Alexis Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
by Lady Sandrilene
Summary: AU. The Boy Who Lived is now the Girl Who Lived, Alexis Potter. She attends her first year of Hogwarts, makes five best friends, and deals with the events going on in school. Please read and review!
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. The wonderful author J.K. Rowling is. If I did own HP, Sirius and Dumbledore would be alive, and certain people who died in Deathly Hallows wouldn't have died. If I had my way, it would have been only Death Eaters and nameless or very minor, unimportant people on the Lightside who died. So please don't sue.

Summary: I had a very odd dream in which I was Harry Potter, except that he had turned into a girl with the name of Alexis Lily, and dated Neville. Therefore, I have decided a write a fic in which Harry is a girl, but whether or not Alexis ends up with Neville is debatable. The Dursleys will treat Alexis a little worse than they do in the books, but not abuse her as much as in some fics I've read. This is completely different from my other fic, as she will attend Hogwarts, and Dumbledore is like the way he is in the books.

A/N: I probably shouldn't be writing this when I'm busy with my other fic, but the idea just popped into my head after my dream. So I'm writing this, and I apologize to readers of my other fic who might not like my dividing some of my time so I can write this.

James Potter and Sirius Black nervously paced the waiting room in the maternity ward of St. Mungos. Or rather, James was nervously pacing, while Sirius only paced to keep his best friend company. A few minutes later, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew appeared. "How is it going?' asked Peter, sounding breathless. "Did Lily have the baby yet?"

"Not yet," responded James, tearing at his hair. "What's taking so long?"

"Sometimes it takes more time," said Remus calmly. "Have you and Lily decided on a name?"

"Harry James if it's a boy and Alexis Lily if it's a girl," answered James. He turned to Sirius and said, "You're godfather, of course. And Moony, sorry about the stupid laws that prevent werewolves from being godparents. But you can still be god-wolf, of course."

Remus grinned, while Peter asked, pouting, "What about me?"

"Uh, you can be the uncle who shows up with gifts and spoils him or her," suggested James.

"Okay," said Peter, looking satisfied. James continued pacing for the next half hour, until a Healer came out.

"Good news, Mr. Potter," she said. "You have a daughter! The mother is resting, but you can go see them."

James sprinted for the room Lily was in. Lily was sitting up in the bed, looking worn out, but happy. A pink bundle rested in her arms. James kissed his wife, then looked down at his daughter. A curl of jet-black hair peeked out, and the eyes opened, showing that they were the same brillant green as Lily's. "Oh, Alexis Lily Potter is so beautiful!" exclaimed James. "Just like her mother! Though she does seem to have inherited my black hair, only it's curly."

Lily smiled up at him. "We do have a lovely daughter, don't we? You're going to have fun scaring her potential boyfriends in thirteen or fourteen years, won't you, James?'

James looked horrified, then grinned. "Yeah, I will. No boy is going to touch my precious daughter or hurt her in any way."

A few minutes later, Sirius, Remus, and Peter came in to meet Alexis. Sirius was introduced to Alexis as godfather, Remus as god-wolf, and Peter as the uncle that would spoil her. The three fell in love with the baby girl at once. (Though it didn't stop Peter from betraying the Potter's whereabouts a year later, because his life was more important to him.)

* * *

On November the first, Mr. Vernon Dursley returned home from work, feeling discomfited with all the snatches of talk he had heard. The Potters, his in-laws, had been mentioned, and he had heard the name Alexis, which might be the name of his niece (though as he'd never met the girl, he couldn't be too sure.) There had been funny people outside in cloaks, and one of them had hugged him and said something about how even Muggies or whatever the word was should be celebrating.

The evening news on the telly didn't make him feel any better. First was the report about flocks of owls, and instead of the predicted rain, in areas such as Kent, there had been a downpour of shooting stars. It didn't help matters when he'd asked his wife, Petunia, about her sister's family, and she'd informed him that their niece was named Alexis. Vernon Dursley went to bed, feeling unhappy.

At around midnight, one wizard by the name of Albus Dumbledore appeared in Privet Drive. After putting out all the street lights with his Deluminator, he took a seat on a wall next to a cat. The cat transformed into Minerva McGonagall. After some talk, Dumbledore confirmed, "Yes, Lily and James Potter are dead. However, their daughter, Alexis, managed to survive. Voldemort tried to kill her, but failed. In any case, I'm leaving Alexis Potter here, with her aunt and uncle."

"Albus, you can't mean the family who live here!" cried McGonagall, springing to her feet and pointing at Number Four. "They're the worst sort of Muggles! That bratty son of their's kept kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. And Lily once told me that her sister was jealous of the fact that she was a witch and would have little to do with her. Alexis Potter, having to live here, with relatives that will hate her!"

"Alexis will be safe here," explained Dumbledore gently. "I've activated some blood wards, since Lily died for her daughter and her sister will share the same blood. And Minerva, you know Alexis will be famous for what happened the day before. She has no recollection of it, but the wizarding world would treat her differently because of it, and we don't want her to become spoiled."

McGonagall sighed. "I suppose you're right. Fine, Alexis can live here. But if she comes to any harm from her relatives, there will be hell to pay. Now, how is she coming here?"

"Hagrid's bringing her," replied Dumbledore. Just as he finished speaking, there was a roar in the sky, and second later, a giant of a man riding on a flying motorbike landed on the street.

"Where did you get that contrapation, Hagrid?" inquired McGonagall, staring at it.

"Young Sirius Black lent it to me," responded Hagrid. A bundle was in his arms and he was most reluctant to leave Alexis at the Dursleys. However, Dumbledore insisted, and Alexis was left on the Dursley's doorstep, with a letter resting on top. Hagrid kissed her, McGonagall blew her nose loudly and wiped her eyes, and the twinkle had gone out of Dumbledore's eyes. Then the lights were returned to the street lamps, and the three left.

Alexis Lily Potter slept soundly on the doorstep, not knowing that she was famous and that in a few hours time, she would be woken by her Aunt Petunia's scream.


	2. Meet Alexis

Loud banging and a shrill voice of, "Get up, you lazy girl!" woke Alexis Lily Potter up. She sat up, recalling the lovely dream she had, in which she had been floating a few inches above the ground on a small broom, while a big, black dog, who could also become a person, chased her. In the background, a man with messy black hair and glasses and a woman with red hair and green eyes were watching. Alexis assumed that they were her parents, for the woman's eyes were the same as hers, and she had black hair and glasses like the man.

"Make the breakfast," the shrill voice of her Aunt Petunia continued, "and don't you dare let it burn! I want everything perfect for Dudley's birthday."

Alexis stifled a groan. Great, it was her cousin's birthday, and she had forgotten. Every year, her aunt and uncle took him and a friend out. When she had been younger, she'd been left with Mrs. Figg. a batty old lady two streets over with a fondness of cats. However, for the past two years, Alexis had been left at home. She perferred the empty house to being with Mrs. Figg.

Alexis put on a sweatshirt that had once belonged to her cousin Dudley and a worn skirt that Aunt Petunia had cast aside to her, brushing aside a spider. The skirt was long, falling to her ankles, and the sweatshirt much too big for her petite frame. A rubber band was the only thing that kept her shoulders from falling out the neckhole. Then she put on the pair of glasses that had once belonged to Uncle Vernon. She couldn't see quite clearly with them on, but it was certainly much better than if she didn't wear them at all. Finally her black curls were pulled back into a ponytail with a second rubber band.

She stepped out her room, which was the cupboard under the stairs. She turned to shut the door, but Dudley had come stomping down the stairs, and pushed her roughly. She collided into the partly shut door and fell down. As he left for the kitchen, Alexis got up, stifling a cry of pain. Her cousin liked to bully and torment her, and at school, his gang of friends joined in the bullying. Naturally, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon always took Dudley's side and never even repriminded him. Anything bad that happened to Alexis was believed to her fault.

She sighed. At least her aunt and uncle didn't physically abuse her, beyond the shoving and an occasional slap from Aunt Petunia when she was really mad. And there was the one time when Uncle Vernon had hit her with his belt for somehow ending up on the school roof. She had been running from Dudley and his gang, intended to jump behind some rubbish bins to hide, and then found herself on the roof. But otherwise, Uncle Vernon never hit her.

Alexis made breakfast, taking care not to burn it. If she did, she would get no breakfast, and since it was Dudley's birthday, she'd probably end up with no lunch and dinner either, and would be locked up in her cupboard. In the meantime, Dudley counted his presents, pleased when he discovered he had thirty-seven, two more than last year. Then he began unwrapping his gifts.

When she finished making the toast, bacon, and scrambled eggs, she set the table with three plates, utensils, three cups, and the platters of food. After serving the Dursleys the food, she poured Uncle Vernon his coffee, having taken care to make it just right. The one time she hadn't made it perfectly had resulted in the coffee being thrown at her. Fortunately, she'd had on one of Dudley's old sweatshirts at the time, and the coffee had stained the material, but not burned her.

Aunt Petunia tasted the breakfast, then nodded. "The food is acceptable. You may have two slices of bread and a glass of water. Then wait in that corner until it's time to wash the dishes."

"Yes, Aunt Petunia," said Alexis quietly. She filled a glass of water, took two slices of bread from the refridgerator, and ate her meager breakfast. Then she stood in the corner, staring at her feet, until the Dursleys were finished with breakfast.

After washing the dishes, the Dursleys and Dudley's friend Piers Polkiss went out to the zoo, while Alexis was sent to her cupboard. Once the car had pulled out the driveway and turned the corner, however, Alexis slipped out the cupboard and tiptoed upstairs to Dudley's second bedroom. There, she slipped a book from the bookcase, the only presents that Dudley got that he didn't touch. He hated reading, and only did what was required for school.

Alexis, however, enjoyed reading, for it was her only escape from the cruel life the Dursleys subjected her to. In books, she could travel to other places without leaving the house, and could for a few hours forget her terrible life.

After reading halfway through _James and the Giant Peach_ by Roald Dahl, she wished she could forever escape her relatives like James did. His parents were dead, like hers, and he had to leave his wonderful life and live with his horrid Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker. When James was seven, though, an old man had given him a bag of crocodile tongues, which mixed with some other things and drunk could give him a better life. Of course, James had tripped and spilled the tongues, and the result was that a giant peach grew from a formerly dead peach tree.

His aunts decided they could make a great deal of money by charging people to see the huge peach, and had done so, At night, James had been sent out to clean the yard. Instead, he had found a tunnel in the peach and went to investigate. In the peach stone, he had found several bugs, as large as him or somewhat bigger, living there. There was a grasshopper, ladybug, spider, centipede, earthworm, glowworm, and a silkworm, and all had apparently eaten some of the spilled tongues, which had then made them so big.

In the morning, the centipede chewed the stem in two and the peach had rolled down through England until it reached the sea, squashing Aunts Sponge and Spiker in the process. Alexis cheered softly when reading that, and wished something like that could happen to the Dursleys.

By lunchtime, she was done with the book (she was a fast reader). She wished that she could have a happy ending like James and his bug friends. The bugs had successful careers, and James was visited often by children who wanted to hear the entire story.

Alexis made a sandwich for lunch, and wondered what her life would be life if she could escape the Dursleys. Or better yet, if her parents hadn't died in the car crash. She would no doubt be having fun right now, and prehaps still be chased by the man who could turn into a dog. Of course, she knew that people couldn't turn into animals, but the dream had been a rather nice one, and she had a feeling that it was real.

After some more daydreaming, she put the book away and hid _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_ under her mattress to read later. That book Dudley had actually flipped through and read some bits, mainly because it involved sweets. Alexis had read it once before, and thought that Dudley was a combination of Augustus Gloop and Veruca Salt.

At five, she made dinner for the Dursleys, was allowed to finish the leftovers when they were done, and washed the dishes. Having nothing else to do, she went back to her cupboard, and reread the book until she grew sleepy and went to bed.


	3. The Letter

When school let out the next day, Alexis hurried outside to avoid Dudley and his gang. The Dursleys didn't care what she did after school, so long as she was home by four thirty to make dinner. Therefore, she took the opportunity to go to the library. It was the one place she was safe, for Dudley and his gang would never bother going in. Even if they did, they wouldn't dare do anything to her under the stern eye of Mrs. Channing, the librarian.

Alexis managed to not have any run-ins with bullies, and dashed into the library. Mrs. Channing smiled kindly at her and took the two books that she was returning. Alexis then went of to find some new books to read. As she passed the children's section, her gaze fell upon the book _Matilda_. It was also by Roald Dahl, and happened to be one of her favorite children's book. The main character, Matilda Wormwood, wasn't appreciated by her family (in this case her parents), and loved to read as well. However, she was also a genius, which Alexis wasn't, though she had picked up the basics of reading rather quickly in kindergarten, and learned math and the other school subjects fairly quickly.

Alexis sighed, and wished she didn't have to do so poorly in school. In first grade, when grades were first handed out, she had done much better than Dudley, who was barely achieving average marks. She had thought naively that her aunt and uncle would be proud of her achievement. Instead, they had gotten angry. Aunt Petunia had slapped her for daring to get better marks than Dudley, and Uncle Vernon had yelled at her for half an hour before sentencing her to a week in the cupboard. After that, while Alexis did learn everything the teachers taught, she purposely didn't do well on assignments and tests so she would get slightly worse marks than her cousin.

In the young adult and teen section, she spotted a book titled _Alanna: The First Adventure,_ by Tamora Pierce. Three more books were next to it, also by the same author, and appeared the books were a quartet. Alexis removed the first two books, and after reading the summaries on the back, gathered that they were fantasy, and about a girl who disguised as a boy so she could become a knight. She decided to read the quartet, for she especially enjoyed reading fantasy. Dudley didn't have any real fantasy books in his second bedroom. The closest were the books by Roald Dahl, and even then, he didn't have _The BFG, The Magic Finger_, or _The Witches_. She'd had to read those at the library. He didn't have _Matilda_, either, but that was mainly because the main character was a girl, and boys usually preferred to read books where the main character was a boy.

Alexis read until four o'clock, then went up to Mrs. Channing's desk. The librarian was always kind to her, and seemed to sense that her home life wasn't a particuarly happy one. Normally a parent or guardian had to be present if a child was getting a library card, but Mrs. Channing had waived that rule. She'd also given Alexis a flashlight, and once a month, gave her fresh batteries for it.

"So, you found some books to interest you, dear?" inquired Mrs. Channing, smiling. She checked out the two books for Alexis, and said, "My youngest daughter, Emma, has read this quartet, and said she liked it. I've read the first book and it does seem to be very good. Enjoy reading the quartet."

"I will, Mrs. Channing," answered Alexis. "Thank you very much." Once at the door, she hid the books under her sweatshirt. That was the one good thing about having to wear Dudley's old shirts and jumpers, for they were large enough to hide a book or two under them without anyone noticing.

Back at Privet Drive, Alexis went to her cupboard, dropped off her tattered backpack, and hid the two books under the loose floorboard under her mattress. Then she made dinner, was allowed to eat the leftovers, and after, washed the dishes. When she finished sweeping out the kitchen and dusted and vacuumed the living room, she was allowed to use the bathroom and then locked in her cupboard for the night.

Alexis waited several minutes to be sure that the Dursleys wouldn't bother her further, then extracted her flashlight and a book. She read until she felt sleepy.

* * *

School let out for the summer holidays two weeks later. Alexis wasn't as happy as the other students, for with school, she could escape the Dursley home for most of the day. With school out, though, she couldn't. Every morning, she had to make breakfast, then wash the dishes and complete whatever chores Aunt Petunia assigned for her. After lunch, however, she was free until it was time to make dinner. Therefore, Alexis escaped to the library, where she wouldn't have to put up with Dudley and his friends. 

She helped Mrs. Channing with shelving books for part of the afternoon. The librarian was pleased to have her help, and each day, gave her a sweet, an apple, or some other small item of food to eat. Twice she even gave Alexis some money to buy an ice cream from the ice cream seller outside. Each week, Mrs. Channing also gave Alexis one pound, out of her own pocket, as payment. Alexis had hidden the money she got under the loose floorboard.

When autumn came, Dudley would be attending Smeltings, Uncle Vernon's old school, while Alexis would be going to Stonewall, the local comprehensive. She was looking forward to be going to a school without Dudley there, and not having to put up with him for ten months of the year, as Smeltings was a boarding school.

At the end of the third week of July, the Dursleys went up to London to buy Dudley's school uniform. Alexis was left home alone, and she spent the day reading the books she had checked out.

That evening, Dudley paraded around the living-room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers and flat straw hats called boaters. They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life.

As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe her Ickle Dudleykins, he looked so handsome and grown-up. Alexis privately thought Dudley looked even more ridiculous, and stifled an urge to laugh at his appearance.

There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Alexis went to make breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. She went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in grey water.

"What's this?" she asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question.  
"Your new school uniform," she responded curtly.

Alexis looked in the bowl again. "Oh, I didn't realise it had to be so wet."

"Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia. "I'm dyeing some of mine and Dudley's old things grey for you. It'll look like everyone else's when I've finished."

Alexis seriously doubted this, but kept her mouth shut. She began making the bacon and tried not to think about how she was going to look on her first day at Stonewall High - like she was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably. She sighed dismally.

Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Alexis's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smeltings stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table.

They heard the click of the letter-box and flop of letters on the doormat.

"Get the post, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.

"Make Alexis get it," whined Dudley.

"Get the post, girl!"

Alexis put the bacon on a plate, then silently went out to get the post. Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was holidaying on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill and - a letter for Alexis.

She picked it up and stared at it, her heart twanging like a giant elastic band. No one, ever, in her whole life, had written to her. Who would? She had no friends, no other relatives - she didn't even get the rude notes from the library asking for books back, for she always returned them on time and Mrs. Channing would never send her one in any case. Yet, here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake:

Miss A. Potter  
The Cupboard under the Stairs  
4 Privet Drive  
Little Whinging  
Surrey

The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp. Turning the envelope over, her hand trembling, Alexis saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding a large letter 'H'.

"Hurry up, girl!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter-bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke.

Alexis quickly stuffed the letter into her pants' pocket, then hurried into the kitchen. She handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, then went back to making breakfast, wondering who could have sent her a letter and why.

After finishing the morning's chores, Alexis ran to the library, intending to read the letter there and ask Mrs. Channing for advice. Finding a table in a corner, she sat down, took out the letter, and read:

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY _

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chr. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards) _

_Dear Miss Potter,  
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.  
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July. _

_Yours sincerely, _

_Minerva McGonagall  
Deputy Headmistress_

Alexis stared at the letter. It must surely be a joke. A school witchcraft and wizardry? Why, magic didn't even exist, outside of the stuff in books and sleight-of-hand tricks. She would have suspected Dudley or his parents of playing a prank on her, except her aunt and uncle had no sense of humor and didn't like magic, while Dudley didn't have the brains to come up with something like this.

Alexis stood up and went to ask Mrs. Channing about the letter. The librarian looked over the letter, then sighed and led her to the office. She shut the door, gestured for Alexis to sit, then said, "Alexis, this letter isn't a joke. There is a magical world that Muggles, or non-magic people, know nothing about, except for the few who have magical relatives and the Prime Minister. I'm not a witch, but my oldest son and daughter are magical. They received letters from Hogwarts like you did. Matt thought it was a joke, until Professor McGonagall showed up and explained everything. She took us to Diagon Alley, which is a hidden street where the school supplies can be purchased."

Alexis stared at Mrs. Channing. The librarian was not the type to make up stories, at least not without saying beforehand that it was a story. Therefore, Alexis was inclined to believe her. Mrs. Channing continued, "Kyra and Emma received their letters yesterday. It's mainly the booklist, since Kyra is a fifth year and Emma is a second year. Matt graduated last year and went to work in the Ministry of Magic. And yes, the wizarding world has a government. I will be taking my daughters to Diagon Alley on the thirty-first to get their supplies. I would be happy to take you along."

"Thank you, Mrs. Channing," said Alexis gratefully. She looked down at the letter, then asked, "What does it mean, they wait my owl? And how am I going to pay for my school supplies?"

"Oh, owls are one of the ways of communication in the wizarding world," replied Mrs. Channing. "Witches and wizards use them to send letters. Emma has an owl, and she'll let you borrow him to send a letter saying that you will be attending. As for paying for your supplies, I imagine your parents were magical, Alexis. You've told me that you had a dream in which you were a toddler and was flying about on a toy broom. I would guess that your dream really happened. So I'm certain they must have left some money to you. You probably have a vault in Gringotts, the wizarding bank. And if you don't, Kyra has said that Hogwarts has a fund for students who can't buy their own school supplies."

"Thanks, Mrs. Channing. Um, I don't know if the Dursleys will let me go with you to buy-"

"Don't worry about it, Alexis," interrupted Mrs. Channing kindly. "I will speak to your relatives. And I will send a letter to Hogwarts, asking that a staff member come and explain things to you and relatives. He or she will be able to explain the wizarding world better than I can."

Alexis wrote out a note saying that she would be attending Hogwarts. Ten minutes later, after a phone call, Emma and Kyra showed up. Kyra's eyes narrowed when she saw Alexis and heard her full name. Then she gasped, "Why, you're the Girl-Who-Lived!" Seeing Alexis's confused look, she explained, "There once was an evil wizard who hated Muggles and Muggleborns. The good witches and wizards were fighting him and his followers. Then on Halloween, when you were one, the wizard went after you and your parents. He killed them, and was going to kill you, but somehow the Killing Curse rebounded and struck him. He's either dead or simply lost his power and a proper body. In any case, because you defeated him, you're famous in the wizarding world."

"Oh," said Alexis, looking dumbstruck. Finally she found her tongue and asked, "My aunt and uncle said my parents died in a car crash."

"Well, they lied," said Kyra bluntly. "Anyway, Emma and I will deliver your letter. You'll have a great time at Hogwarts, Alexis. And I'll try to find out why you were left with your Muggle relatives who don't appreciate you. Any wizarding family would have been happy to adopt you."

Alexis nodded, and suddenly remembered all the times strange things had happened and had angered the Dursleys. It appeared that all those odd incidents had been magic. She grinned, excited to be attending a school of magic and glad that her wish of having a better life came true.

In the evening, Alexis was sitting on her bed in the cupboard, when the doorbell rang. She peeked out the door and saw Aunt Petunia open it to Mrs. Channing. The two disappeared into the living room, and seconds later, voices were heard, though Alexis couldn't make out what was being said. Then Uncle Vernon's voice was heard, saying loudly, "No! Alexis is not going to be attending some freak school!"

Mrs. Channing snapped, "Well, there's nothing you can do! She received her letter and sent a reply, saying that she was attending. And it's not a freak school. My daughters are attending Hogwarts, and my son just graduated from there. Seeing as your sister and brother-in-law were magical, Mrs. Dursley, it's expected that Alexis would turn out magical as well. In any case, a teacher from the school will be arriving tomorrow to fully explain things to you and Alexis, and on her birthday, I will be taking Alexis with my children to get their school supplies."

"I will not pay for some crackpot freaks to teach my dratted niece magic tricks!" shouted Uncle Vernon.

"Well, you won't have to!" retorted Mrs. Channing angrily. "If her parents didn't leave her any money, I'll pay for Alexis's school things myself. Oh, and Alexis had better be installed in a proper bedroom when I come to pick her up on the thirty-first, or I will inform the authorities! I saw the address on the envelope, and I am shocked that you could make your own niece sleep in a cupboard."

She strode out the living room, spotted the cupboard, and flung open the door. "Alexis Lily Potter, why didn't you tell me that your bedroom was a cupboard?" She enveloped the girl in a hug, and said in a gentler tone, "I'm not mad at you, only at your relatives. Everything will be all right from now on, dear. I'll see to it." She straightened and said, "I have to leave now. Good-night, Alexis."

Once Mrs. Channing had left, Uncle Vernon struck Alexis, hard, on the cheek. "You little-!" he growled. "Look at all the effing trouble you've caused." He pushed her roughly, causing her to fall through the cupboard door and crash into the wall. Her glasses cracked, and her body ached.

"No, Vernon!" gasped Aunt Petunia. "Mrs. Channing said she'd call the police if we didn't treat the girl better." Uncle Vernon desisted, but still looked angry. Aunt Petunia glared down at Alexis and said curtly, "You can move your things into Dudley's second bedroom, freak."

Her aunt and uncle left, and Alexis silently collected her few things and went upsatirs to Dudley's second bedroom. At least now she had a proper room of her own, and soon she could escape the Dursleys for ten months of the year to attend a magic school.

The next morning, Aunt Petunia didn't require her to make breakfast. In addition, Alexis was allowed to eat at the table with her relatives. An hour later, the doorbell rang. It was opened to a woman dressed in a green skirt and jacket, her hair done in a severe bun, square spectacles, and a stern face. She introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, and answered all the questions Alexis had. She more thoroughly explained about the evil wizard, named Voldemort, but called You-Know-Who by most of the wizarding world, and the incident that made Alexis famous.

Professor McGonagall proved that magic existed when she mended Alexis' glasses, fixed her clothes so they fit, and transfigured a lamp into a pig and back again. Then she handed a key to Alexis, explaining that it was for her Gringotts vault. "That's everything, Miss Potter. Mrs. Channing said she will take you to get your school supplies, so I won't. If you have any further questions or concerns, write to me, dear. Good-bye, and I'll see you when term starts." She got up and left.

Alexis went upstairs to her new room, and began reading _Hogwarts_, _a History_, which Kyra had lent her the day before. She was now very excited, and hoped she would do well at Hogwarts.


	4. Diagon Alley

At nine o'clock on the thirty-first, Mrs. Channing came to pick up Alexis. Alexis slid into the back seat, next to Emma, and they drove to London. During the ride, Kyra and Emma told Alexis about Hogwarts and the wizarding world, and what shops were in Diagon Alley. Alexis was very surprised to find out that goblins ran Gringotts, and asked if they were like the goblins she'd read about in books.

"Not exactly," responded Kyra. "They're short with pointed ears, like in books, but they love treasure, and they haven't always gotten along very well with wizards. There have been goblin rebellions in the past, but currently they're in a truce of sorts with wizards."

At eleven, they reached London and parked outside a big book shop and a record store. Alexis looked about in confusion until Emma pointed out a tiny, grubby-looking pub between the two stores. She noticed that the people hurrying by didn't glance at it and she had the feeling that only witches and wizards could see it. She turned to Mrs. Channing, who said, "Muggles can see the Leaky Cauldron if they're touching a wizard or witch, Alexis."

They went inside, and old barman, who was quite bald and looked like a gummy walnut, broke off his conversation with a man in a top hat to look at them. "Mrs. Channing, is it? You're taking your children to get their school supplies?"

"Yes, Tom," answered Mrs. Channing. "However, we would like some lunch first."

The four sat down at a table and ordered lunch. In the middle of dessert (a birthday cake for Alexis), Tom the barman came over to refill their drinks and took a good look at Alexis. "She isn't your daughter, is she, Mrs. Channing?"

"No, she's a niece of an acquaintance that I'm taking along to get her school supplies," replied Mrs. Channing.

Tom took another look at Alexis, saw the lightning-bolt shaped scar, and gasped. "Why, bless my soul, it's Alexis Potter!"

Instantly the others in the pub stopped what they were doing and came over to the table. Alexis flinched at seeing the many people, but then reminded herself that not every adult was like the Dursleys. She nodded as people introduced themselves, remembered seeing Dedalus Diggle bowing to her once in a shop, and shook people's hand. (A woman named Doris Crockford came back for more.)

A pale young man with a stutter came forward to shake her hand, and Kyra said, "That's Professor Quirrell. He was the Muggle Studies teacher at the school, but went on a sabbatical the past year or so."

"I w-will b-b-be the new D-Defence Against D-D-Dark Arts t-t-teacher," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it. "N-not that you n-need it, eh, M-M-Miss P-P-Potter?" he laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought.

Kyra raised a brow, but didn't comment. Mrs. Channing, who had enough with all the attention, paid the bill, wrapped up the leftover cake, and managed to send the rest away by saying that they needed to go buy their things. Doris Crockford shook Alexis's hand one last time and Mrs. Channing led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a dustbin and a few weeds.

Emma took out her wand and began counting the bricks above the dustbin. "Three up... two across..." she muttered. "Stand back, Alexis." She tapped the wall three times with her wand.  
The brick she had touched quivered - it wriggled - in the middle, a small hole appeared - it grew wider and wider - a second later they were facing an archway on to a cobbled street which twisted and turned out of sight.

"Welcome," said Kyra excitedly, "to Diagon Alley, Alexis."

They stepped through the archway. Alexis looked quickly over her shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall.  
The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons - All Sizes - Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver - Self-Stirring - Collapsible said a sign hanging over them.

Alexis wished she had about eight more eyes. She turned her head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an apothecary's was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, seventeen sickles an ounce, they're mad..."

A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium - Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown and Snowy.

Several boys of about Alexis's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," she heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand - fastest ever -"

There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Alexis had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon ...

"We're at Gringotts!" exclaimed Emma. They had reached a snowy-white building which towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was -  
"Yes, that's a goblin," said Mrs. Channing quietly as they walked up the white stone steps towards him.

The goblin was about a head shorter than Alexis. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Alexis noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:

_Enter, stranger, but take heed  
Of what awaits the sin of greed,  
For those who take, but do not earn,  
Must pay most dearly in their turn,  
So if you seek beneath our floors  
A treasure that was never yours,  
Thief, you have been warned, beware  
Of finding more than treasure there._

A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins on brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. There, they went to a desk, where a goblin looked at Alexis's vault key, then summoned a goblin named Griphook to take Alexis and Kyra down to the vault. Mrs. Channing and Emma went over to another desk to exchange pounds for wizarding money.

After a very exciting cart ride, they arrived at the vault. The door was unlocked and it opened with a puff of green smoke. When the smoke disappeared, Alexis gasped at seeing the contents. There were mounds of gold coins, stacks of silver coins, and heaps of little bronze ones. The Dursleys obviously hadn't known about her small fortune, or they'd have tried to get their hands on it. "Is that all mine?" she demanded. Griphook nodded and Alexis then filled a small bag with coins.

"It's seventeen silver Sickles to a gold Galleons and twenty-seven bronze Knuts to a Sickle," explained Kyra. Then they rode the cart back up to the lobby, where a giant of a man had shown up. Alexis frowned, having had a dream recently where a giant man had carried her as a baby and taken her for a ride on a flying motorcycle.

Emma introduced the man as Rubeus Hagrid, gameskeeper of Hogwarts. Hagrid smiled cheerfully at Alexis, and revealed that he had been the one to take her from her parents' destroyed house and dropped her off at the Dursleys. "It weren' somethin' I wanted to do, leavin' yeh wi' those Muggles, Alexis. But Professor Dumbledore said yeh would be better off there and protected or summit like that."

"It's all right," replied Alexis."I know you had to listen to the headmaster." She looked at Mrs. Channing, who had an angry look on her face.

Hagrid nodded amiably. "Well, it's nice ter see yeh again, Alexis. Yeh're welcome to visit me at me hut an' have tea anytime. Oh, an' happy birthday teh yeh, Alexis."

Alexis and the Channings went off to buy the school supplies. At Flourish and Blotts, she purchased the set books plus some others for background reading. As a birthday present, Emma and Kyra presented her with two books, one titled _Quidditch Through the Ages_ and the other _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts._ After buying a cauldron, potion supplies, parchment, quills, ink, and a set of scales, they went to Madam Malkin's to buy robes.

Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve. "Hogwarts, dear?" she asked, smiling at Alexis. "Got the lot here - another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."

In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Alexis on a stool next to him, slipped a long robe over his head and began to pin it to the right length.

"Hullo," said the boy, "Hogwarts too?"

"Yes," answered Alexis shortly.

"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy. He had a bored, drawling voice. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first-years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

Alexis was strongly reminded of Dudley.

"Have you got your own broom?" the boy went on.  
"No," replied Alexis.  
"Play Quidditch at all?"

"No," she responded again. She had gathered that Quidditch was a wizarding sport flown on brooms, from the cover of _Quidditch Through the Ages_, but she didn't know much else about it, as Emma and Kyra hadn't told her about it.

"I do - Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"

"No," replied Alexis. "Though from what I read, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw sound good."

"Gryffindor?" asked the boy, making a face. "Ugh. Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been - imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

"I wouldn't," snapped Alexis. "Hufflepuff is for those who are loyal and hard-working, and I would have no objection to being in that house. I know someone who was sorted there."

The boy made another face, then glanced at Mrs. Channing. "Is she your mother?"

"No, she's someone I know who offered to take me to get my school things," answered Alexis.

"Why is she with you? Where are your parents?"

"They're dead," responded Alexis shortly. She didn't feel much like going into the matter with this boy.

"Oh, sorry," said the other, not sounding sorry at all. "But they were our kind, weren't they?"

"They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean." Alexis was finding the boy really distasteful.

"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?"

Alexis didn't want to answer, feeling that the boy would try to suck up to her because she was famous. Fortunately, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," and Alexis, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool.

"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the drawling boy.

"I suppose," muttered Alexis. She walked over to Mrs. Channing and Emma as Kyra went to be fitted, having outgrown her old robes. She told them about the conversation, and added, "That boy didn't think much of Hufflepuff. I told him that it was a good house."

Emma grinned. "Yes, it is. I did want to get sorted into Gryffindor like Kyra, but I didn't mind getting into Hufflepuff. I suppose I am a loyal person and rather hard-working. And any house is better than Slytherin. That house has a reputation for turning out dark wizards and not liking Muggleborns. I've heard that You-Know-Who was in that house."

"Emma, why can't you say his name?" demanded Kyra, having finished with her fitting. "It's not scary. Voldemort is just a name, like Tom or Harry."

"You're in Gryffindor," retorted Emma. "You're brave enough to say the name, while I'm not and have gotten in the habit of saying You-Know-Who like the rest of the wizarding world."

"Professor Dumbledore's not afraid to say Voldemort," pointed out Kyra. "And neither is Matt."

"Professor Dumbledore is the only wizard You-Know-Who feared," replied Emma. "And as for our brother, he always had his nose in a book and was too absent-minded to be afraid of things. That's why he was Sorted into Ravenclaw."

"Okay girls, that's enough," interrupted Mrs. Channing. "Come along. Alexis needs to get her wand."

On the way over to Ollivander's Wand Shop, they ran into Hagrid, who presented Alexis with a snowy owl as a birthday present. "I wanted to give yeh somethin'," he explained. "An animal sounded nice, an' as toads are old-fashioned and cats make me sneeze, I decided on an owl."

Alexis thanked Hagrid for the wonderful gift, and then she and the Channings continued on their way. Mr. Ollivander turned out to be a creepy old man with silver eyes that could remember every wand he ever sold. After asking Emma and Kyra about their wands, he reminiced about the wands Alexis' parents had before seeing about getting Alexis a wand. She went through just about every wand in the shop, except for the one on a pillow in the window, before Mr. Ollivander handed her one of holly, with phoenix feather core, eleven inches. When she took it in her hand, a warmth spread down her arm, and as she waved the wand, red and gold sparks shot out from the end. "You found the perfect wand!" exclaimed Emma with delight.

"Finally," muttered Kyra, rolling her eyes. "You took ten times as long as I did. No offense, Alexis."

Mr. Ollivander shook his head slightly. "This is curious." When Alexis asked what was curious, he explained that the phoenix who provided the core for her wand had also given a feather for another wand. The brother wand was the one that gave Alexis her scar. She shuddered at the thought that she and Voldemort shared wand cores. After Mrs. Channing paid the seven galleons for the wand, ( she said it would be her birthday present) Alexis and the Channings left.

On the ride back to Privet Drive, Alexis was rather quiet. Emma didn't speak either, but Kyra and her mother did their best to comfort Alexis over what Mr. Ollivander had revealed. Finally they arrived at the Dursley home. Mrs. Channing helped Alexis get her trunk upstairs to her room, handed her the leftover cake, and said she would come at nine on September first to take her to King's Cross Station. Alexis thanked Mrs. Channing, and after she had left, dug out her set books to read in an attempt to take her mind off her wand. After reading _A History of Magic_, Alexis decided to name her owl Hedwig. At midnight, she put her books away and went to bed.


	5. Journey from Platorm 9 and 3 quarters

For the month of August, the Dursleys ignored Alexis. They didn't require her to cook, wash the dishes, or do any other chore. Aunt Petunia only spoke to Alexis to call her for meals, and Uncle Vernon didn't speak at all. Dudley tried to tease her once, but Aunt Petunia had dragged him away. Then she'd told him that Alexis could turn him into a bat and Mrs. Channing could notify the police if he kept it up. This had sufficiently scared him that after that, he never bothered Alexis again.

Every day, Alexis went to the library. In the morning, she helped Mrs. Channing, and in the afternoons, she read her Hogwarts books. Emma and Kyra came by frequently and answered any questions she had and discussed the classes with her. Kyra added that she had been made Gryffindor prefect and that if Alexis got Sorted into Gryffindor, to feel free to come to her with questions. Mrs. Channing took an afternoon off one day, and took Alexis to a clothing store. There she had bought the girl two skirts, a blouse, three shirts, two pairs of pants, a sweater, some underthings and socks, and two pairs of shoes.

On the afternoon of August 31st, Alexis went down to the living room. Dudley took one look at her, then gave a small shriek and ran out the room. She rolled her eyes in disgust. Then looking at her aunt and uncle, she said, "Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, Mrs. Channing is going to pick me up tomorrow at eight thirty to take me to King's Cross Station."

Uncle Vernon merely grunted in reply, but looked slighted puzzled. Aunt Petunia blinked, then appeared to remember something, and nodded. "_They_ have to take the train to the freak school, Vernon. All right then, Alexis." Alexis turned and went back to her room.

The next morning, Alexis woke up at five and couldn't fall back asleep. Therefore, she got up and began making sure she had packed everything in her trunk. After that, she fed Hedwig, and tidied up her room. At seven, she went downstairs and had some toast and jam and a glass of milk, then went upstairs again. She nervously paced around the room until eight thirty, when Mrs. Channing came.

A tall boy of eighteen or nineteen with thick glasses, dark brown hair, and gray eyes helped Alexis get her trunk downstairs. He then introduced himself as Matthew Channing, and said he worked in the Department of the Control of Magical Beings in the Ministry of Magic. Alexis looked at Matt, then at Kyra and Emma. He looked nothing like his sisters and mother, for they had dark blonde hair and green eyes. When she mentioned this, Matt said sourly, "I take after my father." Then Alexis realized that she had never met Mr. Channing, and had never heard him mentioned before.

Kyra saw Alexis's look, and said, "Our parents are divorced. Our father left when Matt received his Hogwarts letter, and Professor Flitwick said that Emma and I were magical as well and would likely receive letters in the future, too."

Mrs. Channing sighed. "My ex-husband regarded magic the way your aunt and uncle do, Alexis. There is a verse in the Bible that says, 'Do not allow a witch to live.' He believed in that verse, though of course, in today's world we don't go around killing witches. In any case, Matt received his letter, and minutes later, Professor Flitwick turned up to explain things. Kyra had shown signs of magic as well, so Professor Flitwick said she was a witch and would get a letter, too, and that Emma probably was one as well. My ex-husband threw a fit, and when Matt insisted on attending Hogwarts and I said that his magical abilities were a gift from God, he left. I divorced him, and we haven't heard from him since. Professor Flitwick modified his memory so he wouldn't tell people about the wizarding world."

Alexis stared at her in surprise until Emma cleared her throat loudly. Alexis jumped, then turned to see Matt magically levitate her trunk and place it in the boot of the car. She didn't think three trunks would fit, but when she peered in the boot, saw that it was bigger inside that outside. "I magically expanded it so it the trunks could fit," explained Matt. He then glanced at his watch and said, "I have to go to work now, or I'll be late. It was nice meeting you, Alexis. I'm sure you'll do well at Hogwarts. Emma and Kyra, good-bye and have a great year. I'll be coming by for dinner tonight, Mum. And I'm bringing Tonks with me."

Emma, with a giggle, informed Alexis, "Tonks is Matt's _girlfriend_. They've been dating since last year. Her real name is Nymphadora, but she hates it and goes by her surname. She's training to be an Auror. That's a dark wizard catcher. Sort of like the police."

"Emma!" exclaimed Matt. "You don't have to tell everyone you know about my girlfriend!"

"When are you going to ask her to marry you, Matt?" asked Emma teasingly.

"That is enough!" snapped Matt. "Emma Natalia Channing, mind your own business! And for your information, I have no intention of asking Tonks to marry me at the moment."

"Why not?" inquired Emma, not listening to her brother. "Tonks is cool, and I wouldn't mind having her as a sister-in-law. And maybe your kids would turn out to be Metamorphmaguses like her. That's someone who can change their appearance at will, Alexis."

"The word is _Metamorphmagi_," said Matt. "And I think you had better shut up before I lose my temper and hex you, Emma."

"Enough," said Mrs. Channing firmly. "Matthew, you are not going to hex your sister, no matter how annoying she is. Emma, stop teasing your brother and hold your tongue. We had better go, or we'll be late. See you tonight, Matt."

Matt hugged his mother and sisters (though he did glare at Emma), then looked around before he disappeared with a crack. Alexis blinked, then realized that he had Apparated. Once he had gone, the others got into the car.

At ten thirty-five, they arrived at King's Cross Station. Mrs. Channing got three trolleys, and Alexis, Emma, and Kyra loaded their trunks onto them. Once inside the station, they headed for the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten. Mrs. Channing, holding Kyra's hand, walked toward the barrier with Kyra. "The Platform is Nine and Three Quarters," said Emma. Alexis turned to look at her when she spoke, and as a consquence, missed seeing Kyra and Mrs. Channing get on the platform.

"How do you get on the platform?" asked Alexis. "I missed seeing what your mum and Kyra did."

"Just copy what I do," said Emma. She settled her owl cage on top of her trunk and began pushing the trolley toward the barrier. Unfortunately, some tourists happened to walk by, blocking Alexis's view. She couldn't see where Emma had disappeared to after the group had passed by. All she could figure out was that barrier probably had something to do with getting on the platform. Perhaps you had to tap it with your wand like the way to get into Diagon Alley.

Just then, Alexis heard someone say, "Packed with Muggles, of course." She turned to see a red-haired family. There was a mother, four boys, and a girl. The boys each pushed a trolley, and the oldest boy also had a cage with an owl.

She watched as the mother asked what the platform was, and the girl replied. Then the oldest boy, Percy, went first. She watched intently, but unfortunately, someone knocked into her. She fell down, and by the time she had picked herself up, Percy was gone.

Alexis had no choice but to ask the family how to get on the platform. She hesitantly asked, "Excuse me?" Nobody heard her except for the girl, who smiled and looked in her direction. "Er, could you tell how exactly to get onto the platform, please?"

"Oh, you just walk toward the barrier," replied the girl. "It looks solid, but it really isn't for witches and wizards. I'm Ginny, by the way. What's your name?"

"Alexis," answered Alexis. "Are you attending Hogwarts, too?"

"Not until next year," responded Ginny, sighing. "I wish I could go. My brother Ron is starting this year, so it'll just be me at home with our parents. It can be a pain sometimes being the youngest and the only girl. Your brothers aren't so eager to play with you."

"That's true," said Alexis. "If you want, I could write to you, Ginny. Tell you all about my year and everything. Then you'd have an idea of what to expect when you start."

"Really?" exclaimed Ginny. "That would be wonderful! Want to be friends, Alexis? I don't exactly have many friends that are girls. Oh, and let me write down my address." She found a slip of parchment in her pocket and wrote down her name and address. "Here you go, Alexis."

"Thanks," replied Alexis. "And I would love to be your friend, Ginny Weasley." The two exchanged grins and then Ginny's mother noticed Alexis.

"Fred, George, you'd better get going." This was directed at the twins. Then she smiled at Alexis and said, "Hello, dear. First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too." She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangly with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose. "Do you know how to get on the platform?"

"Yes, Ginny told me," responded Alexis.

"Well, then you can ahead now, before Ron, dear," said Mrs. Weasley kindly. Alexis thanked her, and then grabbed the handle of the trolley. She began walking nervously toward the barrier. When she drew close, she closed her eyes, certain she was going to crash. However, she didn't, and she opened her yes.

A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign over head said _Hogwarts Express, 11 o'clock_. Alexis looked behind her and saw a wrought iron archway where the ticket box had been, with the words _Platform Nine and Three Quarters_ on it. She had done it.

Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every colour wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to each other in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.

"Alexis!" exclaimed Emma. "What took you so long? Mum was getting worried. Kyra was just about to go back out the barrier and fetch you."

"I didn't catch how you got onto the platform," answered Alexis. "Some tourists had walked by, blocking me. But then the Weasleys stopped next to me, and the girl, Ginny, told me how to get onto the platform."

"That's nice," said Emma. "The Weasleys are a good family. Percy is in Kyra's year, and I believe he's the other Gryffindor prefect. And Charlie was in Matt's year. He was seeker for Gryffindor, which is why Matt knows about him. He takes his head out of his books long enough to enjoy Quidditch matches. I don't know much about the twins Fred and George, but Kyra says they're pranksters. And they're the Gryffindor beaters."

Mrs. Channing and Kyra came over, the latter already changed into her Hogwarts robes, a red and gold badge with the letter _P_ pinned on her chest. "Good, you made it," said Kyra. "I was about to go through the barrier again and get you. Anyway, I'll be sitting up front with the other prefects." She hugged and kissed her mother, then turned back to Alexis. "Come to me if you have questions. Good luck and I hope you get into Gryffindor."

Mrs. Channing saw Kyra to her compartment, while Alexis and Emma began searching for an empty one. Finally they spotted one at the rear of the train and began trying to load their trunks. However, it was rather difficult, and Alexis dropped her trunk painfully on her foot once. Then one of the twins spotted them and came over, offering to help. The girls accepted and the boy called his twin, Fred, to come over and help.

Alexis's trunk was loaded, and then the twins began helping Emma with hers. Alexis was in the process of brushing her sweaty bangs out of her eyes when one of the twins looked at her. "What's that?" he asked, pointing at her lightning scar.

"That's Alexis Potter!" gasped the other twin, looking where his twin was pointing.

"Yes, I am, but please don't harp on it," snapped Alexis. "I don't like having a big deal made out of my being famous. Especially for something I can't even remember." That wasn't quite true, for once or twice she'd had nightmares involving a flash of green light and maniacal laughter. In one of the nightmares, there had been a woman's scream. From what Professor McGonagall told her, she'd been able to figure out that they'd been of Voldemort attempting to kill her.

The twins gaped at her, and Alexis felt herself going red. Emma cleared her throat, causing Fred and George to jump. Then, to Alexis's relief, a voice came floating in through the open door. "Fred? George? Are you in there?" The twins gave Alexis another look before jumping off.

Mrs. Channing came over and hugged and kissed Emma. Then she hugged Alexis twice, but didn't kiss her. "Well, have a good time at Hogwarts, Alexis. And Emma, don't go wandering about after curfew like you did last year. I don't want to receive half a dozen letters from Professor Sprout again. The way you're behaving, you'll turn out to be as mischievous as Tonks was."

Mrs. Channing glanced next to her, and Alexis followed her gaze. The Weasley twins were telling their mother about meeting Alexis Potter. Ginny gasped. "You mean that was the Girl-Who-Lived who asked me how to get on the platform? And offered to write to me and said yes when I asked her if she wanted to be friends?"

"Guess so," said Fred. "Do you think she remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"

Mrs. Weasley suddenly became very stern. "I forbid you to ask her, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though she needs reminding of that on her first day of school."

Mrs. Channing smiled wryly. "Well, you're going to have to deal with things like this, Alexis. Some people will only want to be your friend because you're famous. But I'm sure you'll be able to judge who will be a real friend. The two of you had better get on the train now. It'll be leaving in a minute." As she finished speaking, a whistle sounded.

In the compartment, Emma asked, "Do you want me to stay with you here, Alexis? Or you could join my friends and me in their compartment. It's up to you."

Alexis didn't want to intrude on Emma's friends, and neither did she want Emma to give up sitting with them to stay with her. "You don't have to stay with me. Just go and sit with your friends. I'll be fine by myself. Really, Emma."

"If you're sure," said Emma. She grabbed her trunk and left the compartment. The train began moving and Alexis looked out the window. Mrs. Weasley was waving, and Ginny, half laughing, half crying, ran to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed.

The door to the compartment suddenly slid open and a girl with a great deal of bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth came in. "May I sit here?" she asked in a bossy sort of voice. "The other compartments appear to be full."

"Sure, you can sit here," responded Alexis. "I'm Alexis Potter."

The girl looked surprised. "Are you really? I know all about you, of course. I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in _Modern Magical History_ and –."

"Yes, I'm aware that I'm in several books," interrupted Alexis. "Could we not talk about it? I don't like a fuss being made over my fame. What is your name, by the way?"

"Hermione Granger," replied the girl, sitting down. "I can imagine that you don't like your fame very much. Though it can't be too bad. It must be interesting to be famous."

"It's not so interesting when you can't even finish a meal in the Leaky Cauldron without people coming over to shake your hand and introduce themselves. That happened when I had lunch there before I went to get my school supplies. It was very annoying."

The door opened again and two boys came in. One was round-faced, with brown hair and eyes and clutching a toad in one hand. The other was the youngest redheaded boy, Ron. "Anyone sitting there?" asked Ron, pointing to the seats opposite Alexis and Hermione. "Everywhere else is full." Alexis and Hermione shook their heads. The boys sat down.

The boy with the toad introduced himself as Neville Longbottom and Ron did the same. Then Alexis and Hermione introduced themselves. "You're the Girl Who Lived?" demanded Neville, looking at Alexis in awe. "I never expected –."  
"Enough, Neville," interrupted Hermione sharply. "Alexis doesn't like having a fuss made over the fact that she's famous." Neville blushed and looked at the ground.

"So Fred and George weren't joking when they said you were Alexis Potter!" exclaimed Ron. "They're my twin brothers and pranksters. And have you really got – you know…" He pointed at Alexis's forehead. With a sigh, she lifted her bangs to show the lightning scar. Ron stared. "Is that where You-Know-Who –?"

"Yes, it is," answered Alexis shortly. "I don't really remember it."

"Nothing?" asked Ron eagerly. Hermione frowned and opened her mouth. However, she didn't get a chance to speak, for Alexis cut her off.

"I remember green light, maniacal laughter, and a scream. It probably was my mother's scream. I don't remember anything else. I don't want to talk about it anymore, Ron."

Ron turned red and turned to look out the window. After a few moments silence, Alexis asked, "Are all your family wizards, Ron and Neville? I know you probably aren't, Hermione, because you mentioned getting some extra books for background reading."

"Er – yes, I think so," said Ron. "I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."

Neville gave a little sigh. "My gran brought me up and she's a witch, but the family thought I was all Muggle for ages." He went on to add that his Great-Uncle Algie kept trying to catch him off guard and force some magic out of him. Once he had pushed Neville off the end of Blackpool pier once, which resulted in him almost drowning. Nothing had happened until Neville was eight, however. His Great-Uncle Algie had hung Neville out of a window by the ankles when Great-Auntie Enid had offered a meringue. He had accidentally let go, but Neville had bounced. His family had been really happy with that. They had worried that he wasn't magic enough to attend Hogwarts. Great-Uncle Algie had been so pleased when the letter came that he'd bought Neville a toad.

"That's… nice," said Hermione, eyebrows raised. "Well, I'm Muggleborn, like you guessed, Alexis. My parents are dentists." Seeing Ron and Neville's puzzled looks, she clarified, "They're people that make sure your teeth are healthy. They clean teeth and fill cavities. Some dentists make dentures, or false teeth, or specialize in straightening teeth."

"Oh," said Ron. "Alexis, I heard that you went to live with Muggles. What are they like?"

"Horrible," answered Alexis, making a face. "Well, my aunt, uncle, and cousin are, at any rate. Most other Muggles are nice. Like Mrs. Channing. She's the head librarian of my local library. Her two daughters attend Hogwarts, while her son just graduated is working in the Ministry of Magic. Mrs. Channing took me to get my school supplies. It would have been nice to have some brothers and sisters though, like you, Ron."

"Try having six," said Ron. For some reason, he sounded gloomy. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left – Bill was prefect and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."

Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat grey rat, which was asleep. "His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made prefect, but they couldn't aff – I mean, I got Scabbers instead." His ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window.

"I had to wear my aunt's cast-off skirts and pants and my cousin's old shirts and jumpers, Ron," said Alexis. "I never had anything new until a month ago. Nor any money, either, except for what Mrs. Channing gave me for helping her in the library. And until the Channings told me, I had no idea about being a witch, about my parents, or Voldemort –"

Ron gasped and Neville almost fell out of his seat. "_You said You-Know-Who's name!_" said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed. "I'd have thought you, of all people –"

"Oh please, it's just a name," said Alexis crossly. "Like Jane or John. There's nothing to be scared of. Kyra Channing says it's utter nonsense to be scared of saying Voldemort's name. Just because he's an evil wizard doesn't mean his name is scary."

"Well, we've been brought up to think the name is scary and only call him 'You-Know-Who,' Alexis," said Neville. "So don't expect us to call him by name anytime soon."

Alexis shrugged. "That's all right. I haven't been brought up to be afraid, so I can say –." She broke off to see Hermione staring oddly at her. "What is it, Hermione?"

"Did your aunt and uncle, um, abuse you?" asked Hermione hesitantly.

"No," responded Alexis. She didn't want to go into details of her life at the Dursleys. However, she had to tell Hermione something, so said, "My relatives don't like magic, however. So they didn't like me very much and spent as little money on me as possible." Hermione didn't look as if she believed Alexis, though. "Okay, my cousin is a bully and he and his friends sometimes bullied me. But nothing else happened, Hermione. If it did, Mrs. Channing would have told the police. She wanted to, except the Dursleys weren't really abusing me. The police can't arrest someone for not buying new things." The bit about the Dursleys was a lie, but Hermione didn't need to know that.

Ron and Neville exchanged looks. Neville then opened his mouth, but there was a great clattering outside in the corridor. Everyone turned as a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and asked, "Anything off the trolley, dears?"

Alexis, Hermione, and Neville leapt to their feet. Ron's ears went pink again, and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. The other three went out into the corridor. None of the sweets were anything Alexis recognized, except for the Chocolate Frogs and Liquorice Wands. Emma had given her a Liquorice Wand, and told her about the Frogs, two weeks ago. Alexis bought some of everything and paid the woman.

Ron stared as she brought it all in and tipped it on to an empty seat. "Hungry, are you?"

"I was too excited earlier to eat much breakfast," she replied. She waved her hand at the pile of food and added, "Help yourself, Ron. I certainly can't eat all that at once. You too, Neville and Hermione. The two of you didn't buy much food. And Hermione, a few sweets won't do any harm. You can just brush your teeth a little longer tonight."

Hermione hesitated, then shrugged and took a pumpkin pasty. "Are you sure, Alexis?" asked Ron. "I do have sandwiches." He made a face as he pulled a sandwich apart.

"Yes, I'm sure," said Alexis firmly. "I can tell that you don't really like your sandwiches, so just have some of my food. Besides, I've never had anything to share before."

Ron reached out for a Cauldron Cake, and Neville picked up a Chocolate Frog. They explained the sweets to Alexis and Hermione. Alexis's first Chocolate Frog card was Dumbledore, and Ron then gave her the Morgana card he got. (He already had six of her.)

They then began talking about the Hogwarts houses. Ron's entire family (besides Ginny), had been Sorted into Gryffindor, and he wanted to be there too. Hermione wanted to be in Gryffindor, too, for it sounded the best, but Ravenclaw wouldn't be bad, either. Neville said, sounding dismal, that he probably would end up in Hufflepuff.

"There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff, Neville," said Alexis. "It's for those who are loyal and hard-working. Emma Channing's in that house."

"It's better than Slytherin," added Ron. "Who wants to be in a house for Dark Wizards?"

"Ron, I'm sure there have been decent wizards that were in Slytherin," said Hermione. "We just don't know about them, because of the reputation."

"I guess," said Ron. "What if the four of us end up in different houses?"

"We'll still be friends, won't we?" asked Alexis. "I read in _Hogwarts, a History_ that the Founders wanted inter-house unity and for the students to be friends, no matter what house they were in. We've gotten to know each other, and are on our way to being friends. So if you were in Gryffindor, Hermione was in Ravenclaw, Neville was in Hufflepuff, and I was in Slytherin, we'd still be friends."

Hermione and Neville nodded in agreement. Ron hesitated, then nodded as well. "Yeah, we'd still be friends. But do you really want to be in Slytherin, Alexis?"

"Not really," responded Alexis. "But if I did get sorted there, I could show that not everyone in Slytherin is going to turn out evil."

"How do you get Sorted anyway?" asked Ron. "Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking." Alexis smiled, then told the others what Kyra had told her about the Sorting Hat. The others looked relieved when she was done.

Just then, Neville noticed that his toad, Trevor, was missing, Trevor must have jumped away when the food trolley came by. The four went looking for him, but after searching the entire train and asking people, couldn't find him. They returned to their compartment, Neville looking very sad.

Several minutes later, the compartment door opened. Three boys entered and Alexis recognised the middle one at once. It was the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop. He was looking at her with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley. "Is it true?" he asked. "They're saying all down the train that Alexis Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"

"Yes," answered Alexis coolly. She looked at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy they looked like bodyguards.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where she was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him. "Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford."

He turned back to Alexis. "You'll find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Alexis. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." He held out his hand to shake Alexis's, but she didn't take it.

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thank you, _Mr._ Malfoy," she said coldly. "Besides, I am on my to becoming friends with Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom."

Draco Malfoy didn't do red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks. "I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riff-raff like the Weasleys, a boy who loses his toad, and a Mudblood, and it'll rub off on you." Ron turned as red as his hair, Neville flushed and looked at his feet, and Hermione looked indignant.

"For your information, I have been very polite with you, Malfoy," snapped Alexis. "I haven't insulted you, even though I don't like you. You, on the other hand, don't seem to have learned any manners at all, as you're insulting me and my friends. Now, leave!"

"But we don't feel like leaving, do we boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some." Goyle reached towards the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron. Ron leaped forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell.

Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle. Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling. When Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once. Perhaps they though there were more rats lurking among the sweets.

Ron picked up his rat by the tail. "I think he's been knocked out. No – I don't believe it – he's gone back to sleep." And so Scabbers had.

Alexis told the others about her meeting with Malfoy in Diagon Alley. Ron and Neville said that they'd heard of his family and that they had probably been supporters of You-Know-Who. Alexis and Hermione made faces.

The door opened again and Kyra poked her head in. "How are things, Alexis? Anyway, you guys better put your robes on. I've asked the driver and he said we're nearly there."

Alexis went to the bathroom to change and Hermione went with her. Neville and Ron remained in the compartment to put on their robes. When the girls returned, the train seemed to be slowing down. They crammed their pockets with the leftover sweets.

A voice echoed through the train, "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minute's time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

They joined the crowd thronging the corridor, feeling nervous. The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Alexis shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students and a familiar voice called, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads. He patted Alexis on the shoulder, then continued, "C'mon, follow me – any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Alexis thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, who still concerned about his toad, sniffled.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here." There was a loud 'Oooooh!"

The first years had to cross the lake in boats. "No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called. Alexis, Hermione, Ron, and Neville got into a boat. "Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then – FORWARD!" And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy, which hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out on to rocks and pebbles.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" asked Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.

"Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last to smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door. "Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.


	6. The Sorting hat

Author's Note: Tonks may be currently going out with Matt Channing, but it won't last. They will eventually decide that they're not compatible as boyfriend and girlfriend and break up. However, they will still be good friends. Tonks will eventually end up with Remus like in the books.

The door swung open at once. Professor McGonagall, dressed in emerald-green robes, stood there. She had looked somewhat kind when Alexis had first met her, but now she looked wholly stern and it appeared that it would be A Very Bad Idea to cross her.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." The entrance hall was so big you could have fitted the whole of a house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors. They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Alexis could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right – the rest of the school must already be here – but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into an empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her gaze lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose. Alexis nervously straightened her glasses. "I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall, "Please wait quietly."

Alexis knew all about the Sorting Hat, but she still couldn't help feeling nervous. What if it judged her unfit for any of the four houses? Or decided that she wasn't magical at all? The feeling deepened and was much worse than the time when she'd had to take a school report home to the Dursleys saying that she'd somehow turned her teacher's wig blue. Aunt Petunia had slapped her several times then, and Uncle Vernon had shouted at her for half an hour before throwing her in the cupboard, adding that she would stay there a week without any meals.

Suddenly, something happened which made her jump about a foot in the air – several people behind her screamed. "What the -?" She gasped. So did the people around her. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Though Alexis knew about the Hogwarts ghosts, she wasn't prepared for this.

Pearly-white and translucent, they glided across the room talking to each other and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying, "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance –"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost–I say, what are you all doing here?" A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years. Nobody answered.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?" A few people nodded mutely. "Hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old house, you know."

"Move along now," said a voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

"Now form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."

Feeling oddly as though her legs had turned to lead, Alexis got into line behind Hermione. Ron was behind her, with Neville behind him. They walked out of the chamber, back across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

Alexis had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles, which were floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At one of the tables, she spotted Kyra whispering to a girl next to her. At another table, Emma turned from a boy and waved to Alexis. She waved back.

At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Alexis looked upwards and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars.

She heard Hermione whisper to the sandy-haired boy in front of her, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read about it in _Hogwarts, a History_." Alexis had read about it also, but she found it hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens.

She quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched, frayed and extremely dirty. Aunt Petunia wouldn't have let it in the house.

For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip in the brim opened wide like a mouth – and the hat began to sing. It proclaimed itself to be the Hogwarts Sorting Hat, and to try it on and it would tell where you ought to be. Then it sang about the four houses and their qualities before ending the song.

The while hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again. Alexis heard a boy mutter, "I am going to kill my brother! Making me think that we had to fight a werewolf!" She snorted and shook her head at how thick the boy was. First of all, Hogwarts wouldn't make a bunch of first years fight a werewolf, because they were likely to be bitten. And second of all, even if the school did, it couldn't do so now, because it wasn't the full moon.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause – "HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat. The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!" The tables second from the left clapped this time: several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender" became the first new Gryffindor and the table on the far left exploded with cheers. Alexis could see Fred and George Weasley catcalling.

"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin. Perhaps it was her imagination, after all she'd heard about Slytherin, but Alexis thought they looked an unpleasant lot.

She was starting to feel definitely sick now. She remembered being picked for teams during sports lessons at her primary school. She had always been the last to be chosen, not because she was no good, but because nobody wanted Dudley to think they liked her.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Sometimes, Alexis noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but others it took a little while the decide. "Finnigan, Seamus", the sandy-haired boy next to Hermione in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

"Granger, Hermione!"

"Good luck, Hermione," whispered Alexis. Hermione flashed her a grin, then almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head. After half a minute, it shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Alexis clapped along with the Gryffindors. She grinned when Hermione paused to whisper, "Hope you're in Gryffindor, too, Alexis!" before dashing off to sit at the Gryffindor table.

When Neville Longbottom was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR", he ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag." Alexis was the only one who didn't laugh, despite the fact that she found it funny, because she knew what it was like to be laughed at.

After "Macmillan, Ernie" (HUFFLEPUFF!), Draco Malfoy was called up. He swaggered forward and got his wish at once. The hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!" Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself.

There weren't that many people left now. "Nott, Theodore" and "Parkinson, Pansy" both were Sorted into Slytherin. "Patil, Padma" went to Ravenclaw and her twin Parvati was in Gryffindor. After "Perks, Sally-Anne," it was finally – "Potter, Alexis!"

As Alexis stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall. "_Potter_, did she say?" "_The_ Alexis Potter?" The last thing she saw before the hat dropped over her eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at her. Next second she was looking at the black inside of the hat. She waited.

"Hmm," said a small voice in her ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. You have qualities of all the houses. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind, either. You enjoy reading and learning. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes – and a nice thirst to prove yourself and an ambition to do well. So where shall I put you?"

Alexis gripped the edges of the stool and thought, "Not Slytherin, not Slytherin."

"Not Slytherin, eh?" asked the small voice.

"Are you sure?" "Yes, I'm sure!" though Alexis fiercely. "Put me in Gryffindor. Two of my friends are there and I'd like to be with them."

"But you could be great, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that – no? Well, if you're sure – better be GRYFFINDOR!"

Alexis heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. She took off the hat and walked shakily towards the Gryffindor table. She was so relieved to have not been put in Slytherin that she hardly noticed that she was getting the loudest cheer yet. Percy the prefect got up and shook her hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

Alexis sat down next to Hermione, who said, "I'm glad you're in Gryffindor, too." Neville, who was sitting on Hermione's other side, grinned widely. Kyra flashed Alexis a smile of congratulatiosn before turning her attention back to the Sorting.

Alexis could see the High table properly now. At the end nearest her sat Hagrid, who caught her eye and gave her the thumbs up. She grinned back. And there, in the centre of the High Table, sat Albus Dumbledore. She recognised him from the card she'd got out of the Chocolate Frog on the train. Dumbledore's silver hair was the only thing in the whole hall that shone was brightly as the ghosts. Alexis spotted Professor Quirrell, too, the nervous young man from the Leaky Cauldron. He was looking peculiar in a large purple turban.

And now there were only four people left to be sorted. "Turpin, Lisa" became a Ravenclaw. "Thomas, Dean", a black boy that was taller than Ron, was sorted into Gryffindor. Then it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now. Alexis crossed her fingers under the table and a second later the hat had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

She clapped loudly with the rest as Ron collapsed into the chair next to her. "Well done, Ron, excellent," said Percy pompously across Alexis as "Zabini, Blaise" was made a Slytherin. Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

Albus Dumbledore got to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there. "Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" He sat down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Alexis didn't know whether to laugh or not. "Is he – a bit mad?" she asked Kyra uncertainly.

"Mad?" asked Kyra . She paused, then answered, "Well, Professor Dumbledore is a bit mad. But he's a genius and the best wizard in the world. Potatoes, Alexis?"

Alexis's mouth fell open. The dishes in front of her were now piled with food. She had never seen so many things she liked, or would have liked, to eat on one table. The Dursleys had never exactly starved her, but neither had she been given as much food as she liked. With Dudley eating so much, there never was very much in the way of leftovers at mealtimes. Uncle Vernon hadn't stinted himself, either. The only time she had decent meals had been during the past month.

Alexis filled her plate with a bit of everything and began to eat. It was all delicious. :That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Alexis cut up her steak.

"Can't you-?" I haven't eaten for nearly four hundred years," said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it." He then introduced himself as Sir Nicolas de Mimsy-Porpington. Kyra had told her all about the Gryffindor ghost, and added that he was more commonly known as Nearly-Headless Nick. Kyra was proved right when Ron exclaimed that his brothers had told him about the ghost and called him that.

"I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicolas de Mimsy –" the ghost began stiffly, but Seamus Finnigan interrupted. "_Nearly_ Headless? How can you be _nearly_ headless?"

Sir Nicolas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted. "Like _this_," he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell on to his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back on to his neck and coughed. He went on to say that he hoped that the new Gryffindors would help win the house championship this year. Apparently Slytherin had gotten the cup six years in a row. The Bloody Baron, the Slytherin ghost, was becoming almost unbearable. Alexis looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. He was right next to Malfoy whom, Alexis was pleased to see, didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements.

"How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus with great interest.

"I've never asked," responded Nearly Headless Nick delicately.

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later, the puddings appeared, along with blocks of ice cream, treacle tarts, trifle, strawberries, and other desserts.

As Alexis helped herself to a treacle tart, the talk turned to their families. Seamus said that he was half and half. His father was a Muggle, and his mother didn't reveal that she was a witch until after they were married. Parvati Patil then asked about Neville and he said everything he had revealed to Alexis, Ron, and Hermione on the train. Hermione said she was Muggleborn and then got involved in a conversation with Kyra and Percy about the lessons.

Alexis, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, looked up at the High Table again. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore. Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin. It happened very suddenly. The hook-nose teacher looked past Quirrell's turban straight into Alexis's eyes - and a sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on her forehead. "Ouch!" she clapped a hand to her head.

"What is it?" inquired Kyra, sounding concerned.

"N-Nothing." The pain had gone as quickly as it had come. Harder to shake off was the feeling that Alexis had got from the teacher's look, a feeling that he didn't like her at all.

"Who is that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" she asked. "Professor Snape?"  
"Yes, he is," answered Kyra. "You remembered what I told you about the teachers."

Alexis nodded. "He teaches Potions, but wants the Defence Against Dark Arts job." Kyra smiled, then turned her attention to her friend. Alexis watched Snape for awhile, but he didn't look at her again. At last, the puddings too disappeared and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent. He gave the start of term notices, ending with that the third floor corridor on the right-hand side was out of bounds to anyone who didn't wish to die a very painful death. Ron laughed, but he was one of the few who did. Alexis didn't find it particularly funny, because Kyra said Dumbledore was serious about most things. She looked questioningly at Kyra, who shrugged in reply.

"And now before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Alexis noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed.

Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick as if he was trying to get a fly off the end and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself snake-like into words. "Everybody pick their favourite tune and off we go!"

Alexis, not knowing any tunes besides the national anthem, "Happy Birthday", "London Bridge," and some other children's songs, finally picked the tune of the national anthem.

Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped the loudest.

"Ah, music," he said wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!" The Gryffindor first years followed Percy and Kyra through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. On the way, they ran into Peeves the Poltergeist. Percy and Kyra warned about him, saying that only the Bloody Baron could control him, though Peeves did show some respect to the teachers.

Finally they reached the common room. At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink dress. "Password?" she asked.

"Caput Draconis," replied Percy, and the portrait swing forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They scrambled through it–Neville needed a leg up–and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cosy, round room full of squashy armchairs. Percy directed the boys through one door to their dormitory and Kyra directed the girls through another.

At the top of a spiral staircase – they were obviously in one of the towers – they found their beds at last: five four-posters hung with deep-red velvet curtains placed circularly. Their trunks had already been brought up.

Alexis and Hermione selected beds next to each other. Lavender Brown took the bed on Alexis's other side, and Parvati Patil the bed on Hermione's. The fifth girl, Sophia Kent, took the bed between Lavender and Parvati. Sophia said she preferred to be called Sophie, adding, "I will hex you if you call me by that horrid, old-fashioned name. My paternal grandmother is named that, and she is one of the most horrid people in the world." Then she changed into her pyjamas and headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

Lavender and Parvati struck up a conversation, and tried to get Alexis and Hermione involved in it. They clearly wanted to get to know the others better and try to be friends. Unfortunately, neither Alexis or Hermione were interested. Parvati and Lavender were very nice girls, but they were interested in gossip and fashion.

When Sophie returned, Alexis and Hermione grabbed their dressing gowns and nightgowns and went to brush their teeth as well. When they returned, they saw that Lavender and Parvati looked slightly put out as they talked to each other. Glancing at Sophie's bed, they saw that the girl had drawn shut her curtains. It looked as if Sophie had decided to go to sleep.

Parvati and Lavender tried to get Alexis and Hermione in conversation again. However, Alexis was just too tired, and said so. She then got into bed and drew shut the hangings. Hermione did the same as well.

Alexis had a very weird ream that involved her wearing Quirrell's turban and it telling her that she was her destiny to transfer to Slytherin at once. She told it that she didn't want to be in Slytherin and tried to pull it off, to no avail. Malfoy appeared and laughed at her. Then he turned into Snape, whose laugh became high and cold, and then there was a burst of green light. Alexis woke up at this point, shaking and sweating. It took an hour before she fell asleep again, and when she woke the next day, she had forgotten all about the dream.


	7. The First Day

Alexis woke up at six and saw that Sophie was awake as well. In fact, the other girl was already dressed and was in the process of plaiting her long golden hair in a braid. "Good morning, Alexis," she said pleasantly. "I see that you are an early riser, too."

"I only am sometimes," responded Alexis, yawning. "Good morning, Sophie."

Sophie smiled and twisted an elastic band around the end of the braid, then over it tied a wide sapphire blue ribbon in a big bow. "I'm only an early riser because my grandmother expects it of me." She made a face. "Grandmother Sophia expects me to get up by five thirty. Then I'm to read at least an hour until breakfast at seven. After that are my lessons. At noon is lunch, then an hour of practicing the piano. That's followed by an hour of sewing and embroidery and an hour of learning how to run a household. At four is tea, and after I'm free to do what I want, so long as it's lady-like, until dinner. In the evenings I have to read or study until eight thirty, which is my bedtime. Any time I did not behave like a proper lady, she smacked my hand with a ruler, then locked me in the linen closet for an hour. The only change to my schedule was on Sundays and during Halloween, Christmas, New Year's, and Easter. Reading was my only escape. That and plotting pranks to play on Grandmother Sophia."

"Sounds terrible," said Alexis. "But at least she's not abusing you or anything."

"If she did that, I would be taken out of her care," pointed out Sophie. She sighed. "How do your relatives treat you? You're in the same position as me, after all. Our parents are dead and we're being brought up by relatives."

Alexis hesitated, then answered, "My aunt and uncle don't exactly like me. Apparently my aunt was jealous of my mother turning out to be a witch, and my uncle doesn't like anything abnormal or strange, mainly magic. They spent as little money on me as possible. I had to wear my aunt's and my cousin Dudley's old and cast-off clothes."

Sophie raised a brow. "So you had to wear boy's clothes? Ugh. At least my grandmother didn't mind spending money on me and saw to it that I had new things. And I know she loves me, though her way of showing it isn't to my taste."

Alexis shrugged. "My parents left me some money, and I'm at Hogwarts now, so things are better. Anyway, I'm going to go shower and brush my teeth now." She gathered some clothes, then headed for the bathroom. She fully intended to take advantage of the fact that she wasn't limited to two ten-minute showers a week now.

After forty-five minutes, she returned to the room to find Sophie reading and Hermione had just gotten up. Hermione bid her good morning, then headed for the bathroom. Sophie looked up from her book. "My grandmother taught me a charm for drying hair, Alexis. Would you like me to do it on your hair?"

"That would be nice," replied Alexis. "Thank you, Sophie." Sophie took out her wand and muttered a spell. A few seconds later, Alexis touched her hair and found it dry. She tied her curls back with a scarlet ribbon and listened as Sophie explained the charm.

Lavender and Parvati woke up then, yawning and not looking like morning people at all. The two girls then got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Alexis went to her trunk and dug our parchment, quill, and ink. She sat down to write a letter to Mrs. Channing.

_Dear Mrs. Channing,_

_How are you? I'm fine. I was sorted into Gryffindor, to my delight. The Sorting Hat said I had qualities of all the houses. Then it said I would do well in Slytherin, and considered putting me there, but I told it that I didn't want to be there. So in the end, I was put in Gryffindor. Kyra congratulated me and looked pleased._

_On the train, I sat with Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Neville Longbottom. They're first years, too, and got sorted into Gryffindor as well. We got to know each other, and we're on our way to becoming friends. Hermione might end up being my best friend. She likes to read and she also got some books for background reading. _

_Neville seems to lack some confidence. Maybe it's because his family was afraid he wasn't magic enough to attend Hogwarts, because he never showed any magic at all until he was eight. Ron's pretty nice, though he apparently doesn't like being the youngest son out of six and his family not having much money. Though he cheered up a bit when I told him that my aunt and uncle never bought me anything new._

_My dorm mates are Hermione, Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, and Sophie Kent. Lavender and Parvati are interested in fashion and gossip and will likely become best friends. They spent an hour or two talking last night. I don't know much about Sophie, but she seems nice. She taught me a spell to dry my hair. The boys are Ron, Neville, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Eric Carrow. I don't know much about Seamus, Dean, or Eric, other than that Seamus is halfblood._

_I can't wait for classes to start today. I really want to learn magic, even something as small as turning a match into a needle. I have to do down for breakfast now, so I'll end this letter. Thank you for all you are doing for me._

_Yours truly,_

_Alexis_

Alexis folded up the letter and went down to the common room with Hermione and Sophie. Kyra, talking with another girl, was down there. She broke off her conversation when she spotted Alexis. "Oh, good morning, Alexis. Hermione and Sophia, was it?"

"I prefer Sophie," replied Sophia, as Hermione nodded.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," said Kyra. "This is my friend, Amy Walsh."

Amy smiled politely, but clearly did not seem interested in talking with three first years. "I'm going down to the Great Hall, Kyra. It was nice meeting you girls." She left the common room.

Kyra led the three girls down to the Great Hall. Ron, Neville, and their dorm mate Eric Carrow joined them. During breakfast, the mail arrived and Alexis had a shock at seeing the flock of owls come flying in. A barn owl landed at the Gryffindor table in front of Alexis, leaving a package. Then it left a letter for Kyra and flew to the Hufflepuff table.

Alexis unwrapped the package and found a thick book. When she opened it, she saw that the pages were blank and that it was really a journal. A piece of parchment fell out from the back and she picked it up and read:

_Dear Alexis,_

_I hope things are going well for you. Anyway, I am sending you this journal. My children all got a journal when they started Hogwarts, and I felt that you should get one as well. The journal has a spell on it so it will never run out of pages, but will remain the same thickness on the outside. Tap the cover with your wand and say, "Set Password." The cover will open. Tap the first page with your wand and say the password you want. After that, whenever you want to open the journal, just tap the cover with your wand and say the password. Nobody else can read what you write unless they know the password and get a hold of your wand, or you show them. If you need to reset the password, just do the same thing, only you say, "Reset password." Do write often to me, Alexis._

_Yours truly,_

_Mrs. Channing_

Alexis quickly jotted down a postscript to her letter, thanking Mrs. Channing for the journal. Hedwig landed in front of her just as she finished. She tied the letter to her owl and said, "Please deliver this to Mrs. Channing, okay girl?"

Hedwig hooted, took a sip from Alexis's goblet and a bite of her toast, then nipped Alexis's finger gently and took off.

After breakfast, classes began. The first class was Transfiguration, taught by Professor McGonagall. She gave everyone a stern talking to. "Anybody who misbehaves will leave my class and not return. You have been warned." Then she turned her desk into a pig and back again. Everybody was very impressed, but became disappointed when they learned they wouldn't be learning that until much later. Then the class had to take complicated notes before they were each given a matchstick and told to turn it into a needle.

This turned out to be rather difficult. By the end of class, Hermione and Sophie were the only ones who managed to do this. Professor McGonagall showed the class how well Hermione and Sophie had done and gave a rare smile and ten points to Gryffindor. Alexis had turned her match silvery and pointy, but with no eye and was still the same thickness. Ron had turned his match pointy with an eye, but it still had the red tip of a match. Poor Neville hadn't made any headway with his match at all and it remained the same.

Herbology, taught by Professor Sprout, head of Hufflepuff, was held in one of the greenhouses behind the castle. Neville did very well in that class, answering two of the questions and winning five points for Gryffindor. It was quite obvious that Herbology was his forte. While Alexis knew everything that was in the book, she didn't know that much about taking care of the plants and fungi. Therefore, she asked Neville for help, praising his ability. He turned scarlet, but was pleased with the praise. Alexis hoped that it would boost his confidence.

On the way to Charms class, the four of them, plus Sophie and Eric, got lost, mainly due to Peeves pelting them with bits of chalk until they made a wrong turning. Filch found them minutes later, trying to force their way through a door which unluckily turned out to be the entrance to the out-of-bounds corridor. He wouldn't believe they were lost and was sure they were trying to break into it on purpose. He was threatening to lock them in the dungeons when they were rescued by Professor Quirrell, who was passing.

Tiny Professor Flitwick, head of Ravenclaw, taught Charms. He had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. He took the register at the start of class and when he came to Alexis's name, he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight.

Nearly Headless Nick was kind enough to direct Alexis and her friends to the Great Hall for lunch. The other ghosts weren't much of a help, especially when they glided suddenly through a door you were about to open.

After lunch was History of Magic, the only class taught by a ghost. Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff room fire and got up next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. The class turned out to be very boring. Hermione was the only one who seemed to be able to pay attention to Professor Binns with any interest at all. Alexis gave up trying to listen after the first few minutes and spent the rest of class reading _A History of Magic_ and taking notes. Neville and Sophie did the same, while Ron began playing naughts and crosses with Eric.

After class, Hermione began telling off Ron and Eric. "You're not supposed to be playing games during class! I admit that Professor Binns is a bit boring, but that doesn't mean you can play in his class! You could at least have read your book and took notes like Alexis, Sophie, and Neville were doing!"

"Professor Binns doesn't care, or even notice," pointed out Ron. "Besides, we can read the textbook and take notes later, Hermione."

"That's beside the point, Ronald Weasley!" snapped Hermione. "You're supposed to take schoolwork and our classes seriously!"

"Hermione, if we wanted to that, we'd have been sorted into Ravenclaw, house for the smart people, or Hufflepuff, house for the hard working," said Eric

"Oh, just leave them be, Hermione," said Sophie unexpectedly. "They'll get their act together eventually and work hard. Let's go outside and do our work there, since we have no more classes. It's nice out, and I could use some fresh air."

Hermione opened her mouth, then shut it. The others agreed that studying outside was a good idea and so the six of them went out. They sat under an oak tree near the lake and did their work, pausing every so often to talk about their classes. Hermione and Sophie gave Neville a tutoring session in Transfiguration, and he was able to turn a match silvery at the end. It helped that they tried to instill some confidence in him.

After dinner, Alexis wrote a letter to Ginny. She wrote about the classes she had that day, some bits concerning her new friends, and ended it with "Ron says hello." She then headed for the Owlery, first asking Kyra the way there. Hedwig hadn't returned, so Alexis had to use a school owl to deliver the letter. After doing some reading, she went to bed, having enjoyed her first day.


	8. Potions Class

The next day, Alexis woke up early again. She took out the journal Mrs. Channing had sent her and set the password as "Lily and James," after her parents. Then she spent an hour writing in it, describing her first day and her hopes, fears, and other thoughts.

During breakfast, and large brown owl landed in front of Eric and left a scarlet envelope. Ron and Neville exchanged looks, while Sophie raised a brow. Then they clapped their hands over their ears. Eric groaned, then slowly opened the envelope. It instantly became clear why the other three had covered their ears. A woman's voice, magnified, shouted:

"ERIC AMYCUS CARROW, HOW DARE YOU NOT GET SORTED IN SLYTHERIN! THE CARROW FAMILY HAS ALWAYS GONE THERE! INSTEAD, YOU MANAGE TO GET YOURSELF INTO GRYFFINDOR, THE HOUSE FOR THE IDIOTIC PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW WHEN TO QUIT AND INSIST ON BEING STUPIDLY BRAVE! YOU ARE AN UTTER DISGRACE TO THE FAMILY! IF YOUR FATHER COULD SEE YOU NOW, HE WOULD BE DISGUSTED. I'M TEMPTED TO DISOWN YOU FROM THE FAMILY. IF YOU DISGRACE YOURSELF FURTHER, THEN YOU WILL BE DISOWNED. SO YOU HAD BETTER BEHAVE, ERIC AMYCUS CARROW!"

The envelope then burst into flames. After a few seconds of silence, the other students resumed their conversations. Eric brushed the ashes to the ground, eyes flashing in anger. In a low voice, he said harshly, "I almost wish she would disown me. I don't want to be like my father. He was stupid enough to become a Death Eater, then got himself arrested and locked up in Azkaban. My mother's dead, so my grandparents brought me up. They tried to get me to think like them, but I know better."

"Your family's like the Malfoys?" asked Alexis, surprised.

"Yeah," said Eric sourly. "Only I don't subscribe to their beliefs. I know perfectly well that Muggleborns are no less wizards than purebloods. I don't want talk about it anymore."

The others exchanged looks, then Hermione changed the subject.

Classes continued. Alexis did very well in the theoretical part of all the lessons, impressing the teachers. Halfway through the second Transfiguration class, she managed to completely turn her match into a needle. Neville managed to do it as well, and Professor McGonagall awarded them five points each.

On Wednesday at midnight, Astronomy class was held. Alexis wasn't that interested in looking through a telescope and studying the night skies. However, she didn't mind learning the places of the different constellations and pinpointing the planets. It was nice to not just know only where the Big and Little Dippers and the North Star and to finally be able to know where Orion, Cassiopeia, and the other constellations were.

Herbology took place two more times that week. Neville continued to shine in that class, and did as well as Hermione. He was starting to gain some more confidence.

The first Defence Against Dark Arts class also took place. Everybody had really been looking forward to it, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie. However, they weren't sure if they believed his story. For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather. For another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went.

The afternoon after the first Defence class, Alexis went through her textbook, then decided she was better off learning how to defend herself on her own. Her friends thought it was a good idea, but they needed to find a place to practice. They certainly couldn't practice in the common room, unless they all got up at four o'clock, and neither could they do it in the library. An empty classroom might work, but the teachers would probably have objections to it.

The next day, Eric and Sophie exclaimed at the same time, "We found a place where we can practice!" Sophie then continued, "We were on the way to the library and made a wrong turn. A portrait of a young lady in blue asked us if we needed directions. We asked her, then because she would know all about the school, I asked if she knew a place where we could practice without being disturbed."

"Well, Lady Felicity told us that she was actually the entrance to a room that most people didn't know about," continued Eric. "In the past twenty years, only nine other students knew about it. Four of them were a group of boys known as the Marauders and they started Hogwarts about twenty years ago. Two of the others are your twin brothers, Ron. And the remaining three are girls, Emma Channing and her best friends Jade Lynch and Megan Shaw."

"Well, anyway, Fred and George don't use that room, except to occasionally hide in it from Filch during their night time wanderings," said Sophie. "And Emma, Megan, and Jade only use that room on Monday and Thursday afternoons. Lady Felicity says we can use the room the rest of the time for our Defence work. The password for us is 'Lions and lionesses.' Eric and I can take you guys there now."

The others got up and they went to the portrait of Lady Felicity on the sixth floor. Lady Felicity was in her early twenties, with pale blonde hair, cobalt blue eyes, and in a sapphire blue gown made in the style of the early 1800's. She smiled and curtsied, and listened as the others introduced themselves. After Eric gave the password, she swung open, revealing an entrance hole.

The six clambered in and found themselves in a room that was about half the size of the Gryffindor common room. The walls were lined with shelves of books of every subject under the sun. By two of the walls were long rectangular tables with chairs around them. The centre of the room was empty space, with a thick carpet and several fat cushions on the floor.

"Oh, this room is perfect!" exclaimed Alexis with delight. "We can practice Stunning and disarming and jinxes and all matter of spells here."

Hermione and Sophie looked happy as well, while Neville was a bit less enthusiastic. Ron and Eric were interested in the room, but not so enthralled with the idea of extra work. However, they were serious about learning proper defence.

On Thursday, Emma took Alexis aside and asked how she was doing. "I'm fine, Emma. I've made five other friends. Oh, and we found this room to practice magic in. Lady Felicity, in the portrait, says you and your friends Jade and Megan know about the room as well."

"Oh, that," said Emma. "Jade, Meg, and I use it on Mondays and Thursdays."

"Lady Felicity told us," replied Alexis. "My friends and I won't use it on those days, leaving it open to you and Jade."

"Good," said Emma. "Did you have Potions yet?" At Alexis's shake of her head, Emma continued, "Watch out for Snape. He knows Potions, but he favours the Slytherins. And he especially hates the Gryffindors. Try to get on his good side, Alexis. Well, I have to work on my Transfiguration essay with Jade. Have fun."

In the evening, Alexis wrote a reply to the second letter Ginny had sent. Ginny was very interested in Alexis's time at Hogwarts, and she also wrote about her time at home and what her dad did in the Ministry of Magic. She had gotten over her shock of being the pen friend to the Girl Who Lived and was starting to write like her normal self.

The next morning at breakfast, Hedwig turned up with a package and a note. The package turned out to be a box of biscuits from Mrs. Channing. The note was from Hagrid.

_Dear Alexis_, it said, in a very untidy scrawl,

_I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three? Your friends are welcome to come, also. I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig._

_Hagrid_

Alexis borrowed Hermione's quill, scribbled, "_Thanks, Hagrid, my friends and I'll see you later_" on the back of the note, and sent Hedwig off again.

It was lucky that Alexis had tea with Hagrid to look forward to, because the Potions lesson turned out to be very much like what Kyra and Emma had said.

At the start of term banquet, Alexis had gotten the idea that Professor Snape disliked her. She turned out to be right, and she wondered if perhaps he even hated her.

Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls. Snape, like Flitwick, started class by taking the register, and like Flitwick, he paused at Alexis's name.

"Ah, yes," he said softly. "Alexis Potter. Our new – _celebrity_."

Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Alexis stood up and said politely, "Professor Snape, I do not wish a fuss to be made over the fact that I'm famous. I certainly do not remember the event that made me so, and my only desire is to be a regular student and be treated as one."

"Don't worry, you'll be treated like a normal student in my class," sneered Snape. He finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he began. He spoke in a whisper, but they caught every word – like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses … I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

More silence followed this little speech. Eric and Ron exchanged looks with raised eyebrows. Hermione was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead.

"Miss Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Alexis quickly thought back to what she had read as Hermione quickly raised her hand into the air. Then Alexis answered, "I believe asphodel and wormwood would make a powerful sleeping potion known as the Draught of Living Death, sir."

Hermione lowered her hand, looking slightly disappointed. If it'd been any other teacher, Alexis would have won points for Gryffindor. However, Snape merely barked, "Well, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar, Miss Potter?"

Hermione's hand shot up again. Alexis responded, "A bezoar is a stone that can be found in the stomach of a goat and will save you from most poisons, sir."

Hermione lowered her hand and Snape snapped, "What is the difference, Miss Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

"There is no difference, sir," replied Alexis. "They are the same plant, also known by the name of aconite."

Snape looked slightly taken aback and something flickered in his eyes. Alexis thought it looked almost like sadness. Then the look disappeared and Snape snapped, "Well? Why aren't you copying it all down?" There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Over the noise, he said, "Miss Potter, you win a point for Gryffindor for getting the answers correct. You also lose two points for being a know-it-all."

Alexis stared at Snape, shocked by his unfairness. However, if she had said she didn't know the answers, he would have probably taken points off for that. Ron and Sophie glared at Snape and Eric would have protested, but Neville nudged him.

Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticising almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like. He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy has stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the cauldron. Neville had somehow managed to melt Eric's cauldron into a twisted blob and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Eric looked very annoyed.

Within seconds, the whole class were standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs. "Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"

"Actually, it was my fault, Professor," said Eric, the annoyed look gone. "I added the quills." Neville stared at him, then whimpered as boils started to pop all over his nose.

"A point off from Gryffindor for your carelessness, Carrow!" spat Snape. "Now go take Mr. Longbottom up to the Hospital Wing."

Hermione and Alexis produced a perfect potion, but Snape did not comment on how well they did. Any other teacher would have said something, and perhaps awarded points. Snape, however, did comment on how well Malfoy had done.

After class, Malfoy remarked, "Did you see Longbottom? What a clumsy idiot. I don't believe for a minute that Carrow was the one who added the quills. Anyone who loses a toad would have to be bad at potions."

Sophie whirled around, her wand pointing at Malfoy. "Draco Malfoy, how dare you insult Neville! He's my friend. How you like it if I made fun of Crabbe or Goyle?"

Malfoy laughed. "You're friends with that idiot, Sophie? I thought your grandmother wouldn't want that. Isn't that why she took you along on her visits to my family?"

"For your information, my grandmother happens to be best friends with Neville's grandmother," snapped Sophie. "So my grandmother would have no objections to my being friends with Neville. And the only reason I visited your family is because my grandmother was raising me to be a proper witch and she thought it best for me to know the other prominent pureblood families. However, she doesn't expect me to be friends with you, since your family's supports of You-Know-Who."

Malfoy looked taken aback. The Longbottoms were a respected pureblood family, but apparently he had forgotten that. Then he flushed and snapped, "My family doesn't support –"

"And I'm the Queen of England," interrupted Sophie. "Your father lied about You-Know-Who controlling him, then bribed the Ministry with a great deal of gold to stay out of Azkaban. My grandmother might want me to know families like yours, but she'd much rather I was friends with people like the Weasleys and Hermione." With that, she strode away, head held up high. Alexis and Ron gave Malfoy dirty looks, then with Hermione, followed Sophie down the corridor.

They went to visit Neville in the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey, the matron, had healed him of the boils and allowed him to leave. "Why did you say you added the quills, Eric?" asked Hermione as they were walking to the common room.

"I decided to deflect Snape's anger towards me," responded Eric. "Of course, he probably thinks I'm a clumsy idiot now, even though I'm quite good at Potions."

"I'm sorry about ruining our potion, Eric," apologized Neville.

"Neville, you already apologized before," said Eric patiently. "And I already told you that it was all right. Snape just made you nervous, so you made a mistake."

At five to three, the six of them left the castle and made their way across the grounds. Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the forbidden forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door. When they knocked, they heard a frantic scrabbling from inside and several booming barks. Then Hagrid's voice rang out, saying, "_Back_, Fang – _back_." Hagrid's big hairy face appeared in the crack as he pulled the door open. "Hang on," he said. "_Back_, Fang." He let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound.

There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it. "Make yerselves at home," said Hagrid, letting go of Fang, who bounded straight at Ron and started licking his ears. Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked. Alexis introduced her friends to Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes on a plate.

"Another Weasley, eh?" asked Hagrid, glancing at Ron's freckles. "I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest."

Kyra had warned Alexis about Hagrid's cooking, and she in turn had told her friends. The six didn't really eat the rock cakes, but merely pretended to enjoy them, so as to not hurt Hagrid's feelings. The told Hagrid about their first week, and were delighted to hear him call Filch "that old git." He also told them that Snape hardly liked any of the students.

"But Snape seemed to hate me," said Alexis. "And I didn't do anything to anger him."

"Rubbish!" exclaimed Hagrid. "Why should he?" Yet Alexis couldn't help thinking that Hagrid didn't quite meet her eyes when he said that.

"How's yer brother Charlie?" Hagrid asked Ron. "I liked him a lot – great with animals."

Alexis wondered if Hagrid had changed the subject on purpose. While Ron told all about Charlie's work with dragons, Alexis picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cosy. It was a cutting from the _Daily Prophet_.

After she read about the Gringotts break-in, she realized that it had taken place on her birthday, Also, Hagrid had been there, and he had said he was picking something up.

She quickly pointed out the cutting to the others, then exclaimed, "Hagrid! That Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday. It might've happened while I was there."

There was no doubt about it, Hagrid definitely didn't meet Alexis's eyes this time. He grunted and quickly offered Sophie another rock cake. Alexis reread the story. _The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied earlier that same day_. Hagrid had said he was at Gringotts for Hogwarts' business. What if that business had been emptying the vault?

When they walked back to the castle for dinner, she told her friends what she had been thinking. They agreed that it was very possible that Hagrid had emptied the vault that someone had made an attempt at. However, they had no idea as to what was stolen, except that it was probably something valuable. So they dropped the subject and began discussing Quidditch and potions instead.


	9. Flying and Midnight Duel

When the weekend had passed, Alexis and her friends had dismissed the break-in at Gringotts. It was none of their business, really, and it didn't succeed. While they were curious as to what Hagrid could have taken, they couldn't spend all day talking about it. Their focus returned to their life at Hogwarts.

Alexis started to really hate Draco Malfoy. She had never thought she would meet a boy that worse than Dudley and his gang, but that was before she'd met Malfoy. Every time she ran into him, she had to work hard to keep her temper and be polite to him. Sophie, however, did not and openly showed her distaste. Still, first year Gryffindors only had Potions with the Slytherins, so they didn't have to put with Malfoy much. Or at least, until they spotted a notice pinned up in the Gryffindor common room, which made them all groan. Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday – and Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together.

"Typical," said Alexis darkly. "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."

"You don't know you'll make a fool of yourself," said Ron reasonably. "Anyway, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk."

Malfoy certainly did talk about flying a lot. He complained loudly about first years never getting on the house Quidditch team and told long, boastful stories which always seemed to end with him narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters. He wasn't the only one, though: the way Seamus Finnigan told it, he'd spent most of his childhood zooming around the countryside on his broomstick. Even Ron would tell anyone who'd listen about the time he'd almost hit a hang-glider on Charlie's old broom. Everyone from wizarding families talked about Quidditch constantly. Ron had already had a big argument with Dean Thomas about football. Ron couldn't see what was exciting about a game with only one ball where no one was allowed to fly. Eric said he'd caught Ron prodding Dean's poster of the West Ham football team, trying to make the players move.

Neville had never been on a broomstick in his life, because his grandmother had never let him near one. Privately, Alexis felt she'd had good reason, because Neville managed to have an extraordinary number of accidents even with both feet on the ground.

Sophie had learned how to fly, but she hadn't flown very often. Her grandmother hadn't encouraged it, because she didn't think flying was very lady-like. Eric also knew how to fly, but he hadn't flown often, either. Every time he displeased his grandparents, they'd taken his broom and forbidden him from flying for a week. As he managed to displease them almost every week, he'd lost broom privileges as often.

Hermione was almost as nervous as Neville was. This was something you couldn't learn by heart out of a book – not that she hadn't tried. At breakfast on Thursday she bored them all stupid with flying tips she'd gotten out of Alexis's copy of _Quidditch Through the Ages_. Neville was hanging on to her every word, desperate for anything that might help him hang on to his broomstick later. Everyone else, however, was very pleased when Hermione's lecture was interrupted by the arrival of the post.

Hedwig showed up with a letter from Ginny and one from a girl named Luna Lovegood. Ginny mentioned that she had spent the weekend with Luna, a girl who lived on the other side of Ottery St. Catchpole. Luna's father was the editor of a magazine called _the Quibbler_, which was basically a tabloid. Luna was a nice girl, but weird. She believed the things her father printed, and often mentioned it. For example, she believed that creatures called Crumple-Horned Snorkacks lived in Sweden and planned to go hunting for them.

The one from Luna introduced herself, and said that Ginny had told her all about Alexis. Luna asked if Alexis would mind having a correspondence, then went on to describe herself and _The Quibbler_. With the letter was a photo. Alexis looked at it and saw a girl with long dirty blonde hair, protuberant silver eyes, and a dreamy expression on her face. What looked like radishes hung from her ears, and a necklace made of corks was at her neck. Alexis raised a brow. Luna certainly had a rather odd look about her.

Alexis put away the letters and saw a barn owl land in front of Neville. It brought a small package from his grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke. "It's a Remembrall!' he explained. "Gran knows I forget things – this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red – oh …" His face fell, because the Remembrall had suddenly glowed scarlet, "…you've forgotten something."

Neville was trying to remember what he'd forgotten when Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor table, snatched the Remembrall out of his hand. Sophie jumped to her feet, an angry look at her face. "Give that back!" exclaimed Alexis and Hermione at the same time. Eric and Ron jumped up to. Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash.

"What's going on?" she demanded.

"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor," responded Neville.

Scowling, Malfoy quickly dropped the Remembrall back on the table. "Just looking," he said, and he sloped away with Crabbe and Goyle after him.

At three-thirty that afternoon, Alexis and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps into the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns towards a smooth lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest. The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Alexis had heard the Weasley twins complain about the school brooms, saying that some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left.

Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, grey hair and yellow eyes like a hawk. "Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up." Alexis glanced down at her broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles. "Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!'"

"UP!" everyone shouted.

Alexis's broom jumped into her hand at once, but it was one of the few that did. Hermione's had simply rolled over on the ground and Neville's hasn't moved at all. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell when you were afraid; there was a quaver in Neville's voice that said only too clearly that he wanted to keep his feet on the ground.

Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Alexis was secretly delighted when she told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet and then come straight back down by leaning forwards slightly. On my whistle – three – two –." But Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips. "Come back, boy!" she shouted.

However, Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle – twelve feet – twenty feet. Alexis saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom and –

WHAM – a thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay face down on the grass in a heap. His broomstick was still rising higher and higher and started to drift lazily towards the forbidden forest and out of sight. Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as white as his. "Broken wrist," Alexis heard her mutter. "Come on, boy – it's all right, up you get." She turned to the rest of the class. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."

Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arms around him. "I hope Neville will be all right," Alexis whispered to Sophie.

"Me too," Sophie whispered back, her face pale and anxious. Hermione was biting her nails, and Ron and Eric had concerned looks on their faces.

No sooner were Neville and Madam Hooch out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter. "Did you see his face, the great lump?" The other Slytherins joined in.

"Shut up, Malfoy!" snapped Sophie.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" asked Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. "Never thought _you'd_ like fat little cry-babies, Sophia."

"He's not a cry-baby!" retorted Alexis. "So be quiet, Pansy Parkinson!"

"Look!" exclaimed Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him." The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.

"Give that here, Malfoy," said Alexis quietly. Everyone stopped talking to watch.

Malfoy smiled nastily. "I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to collect – how about – up a tree?"

Alexis lost what grip she had on her temper. "Give it _here_!" she yelled, but Malfoy had leapt on to his broom and taken off. He hadn't been lying, he _could_ fly well – hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, "Come and get it, Alexis Potter!"

Alexis didn't even pause to think, but just grabbed her broom.

"_No!_" shouted Hermione. "Madam Hooch told us not to move – you'll get us all into trouble, Alexis!" Alexis ignored her. Blood was pounding in her ears. She mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up she soared, air rushed through her hair and her robes whipped out behind her. In a rush of fierce joy she realized that she'd found something she could do without being taught – this was easy, this was _wonderful_. She pulled her broom up a little to take it even higher and heard screams and gasps of girls back on the ground and admiring whoops from Ron and Eric.

She turned her broom sharply to face Malfoy in mid-air. He looked stunned. "Give it o me," Alexis called, "or I'll knock you off that broom!"

"Oh, yeah?" asked Malfoy, trying to sneer, but looking worried.

Alexis somehow knew what to do. She leant forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands and it shot towards Malfoy like a javelin. He only just got out of the way in time; she made a sharp about turn and held the broom steady. A few people clapped.

"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," Alexis called.

The same thought seemed to have struck Malfoy. "Catch it up you can, then!" he shouted, and he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back towards the ground.

Alexis saw, as though in slow motion, the ball rise up in the air and then start to fall. She leaned forward and pointed her broom handle down – next second she was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball – wind whistled in her ears, mingled with the screams of people watching – she stretched out her hand. A foot from the ground she caught it, just in time to pull her broom straight, and she toppled gently on to the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in her fist.

"ALEXIS POTTER!" Her heart sank faster than she'd just dived. Professor McGonagall was running towards them. Alexis got to her feet, trembling. "_Never_ – in all my time at Hogwarts –." Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, " – how _dare_ you – might have broken your neck –."

"It wasn't her fault, Professor –."

"Be quiet, Miss Patil –."

"But Malfoy – "

"That's _enough_, Mr. Carrow. Miss Potter, follow me, now." Alexis caught sight of Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle's triumphant faces as she left, following numbly in Professor McGonagall's wake as she strode towards the castle. She was going to be expelled, she just knew it. She wanted to say something to defend herself, but there seemed to be something wrong with his voice. Professor McGonagall was sweeping along without even looking at her; she had to jog to keep up. Now she'd done it. She hadn't even lasted two weeks. She'd be packing her bags in ten minutes. What would the Dursleys say when she turned up on the doorstep?

Up the front steps, up the marble staircase inside, and still Professor McGonagall didn't say a word to Alexis. She wrenched opened doors and marched along corridors with Alexis trotting miserably behind her. Maybe McGonagall was taking her to Dumbledore. Then Alexis remembered that she couldn't be expelled. From what Kyra told her, you had to break a really major rule to be expelled. At most Alexis would lose points and given a detention or two. She started to calm down slightly.

Professor McGonagall stopped outside a classroom. She opened the door and poked her head inside. "Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?"

Wood turned out to be a burly fifth year boy who came out of Flitwick's class looking confused. Alexis remembered seeing him talking with Kyra a couple of times.

"Follow me, you two," said Professor McGonagall, and they marched up the corridor, Wood looking curiously at Alexis. "In here." McGonagall pointed them into a classroom, which was empty except for Peeves, who was busy writing rude words on the blackboard. "Out, Peeves!" she barked. Peeves threw the chalk into a bin, which clanged loudly, and he swooped out cursing. Professor McGonagall slammed the door behind him and turned to face the two. "Miss Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood – I've found you a Seeker."

Wood's expression changed from puzzlement to delight. "Are you serious, Professor?"

Alexis, dazed, listened as McGonagall told Wood about Alexis catching the Remembrall after a fifty-foot dive without injuring herself. Wood looked as though all his dreams had come true at once. Apparently he was the captain of the Gryffindor team. McGonagall said she would speak to Dumbledore about bending the first year rule. Then she peered sternly over her glasses at Alexis. "I want to hear you're training hard, Miss Potter, or I may change my mind about punishing you." Then she suddenly smiled. "Your father would have been proud. He was an excellent Quidditch player himself."

"You're _joking_." It was dinnertime. Alexis had just finished telling her friends, minus Neville, who wasn't back from the hospital wing, what had happened. Ron had a piece of steak and kidney pie halfway to his mouth, but he'd forgetten all about it.

"_Seeker?_" Sophie asked. "But first years _never_ – you must be the youngest house player in about – "

"– a century," finished Alexis. "Wood told me." Ron was so amazed, so impressed, he just sat and gaped at her. Hermione looked slightly disapproving. Sophie and Eric were impressed as well, but not so much that they forgot all about eating.

"I start training next week," said Alexis. "Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret." Fred and George Weasley now came into the hall, spotted her and hurried over. In low voices, they congratulated her and told her that they were Beaters on the team. Then they left, saying that their friend Lee Jordan said he'd found a new secret passageway out of the school.

Fred and George had hardly disappeared when someone far less welcome turned up: Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. "Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?"

"I'm not," answered Alexis coolly. "By the way, you seem a lot braver now you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you."

"I'd take you any time on my own," snapped Malfoy. "Tonight if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only – no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"

"Of course she has," said Ron and Eric at the same time. They exchanged looks, then Ron said, "I'm Alexis's second, who's yours?"

Malfoy looked at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing then up. "Crabbe," he replied. "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room, that's always unlocked."

When Malfoy had gone, Alexis gave Ron a Look. "What gave you the right to accept the duel for me, Ronald? As Hermione so kindly pointed out to me before dinner, I was lucky to escape punishment. If I sneak about after curfew to duel Malfoy, I could very well be caught. And this time, I won't escape being punished. And what's a second, anyway?"

"But if you don't show up, Malfoy will think you're too afraid to duel him," said Ron.

"And a second's there to take over if you die," answered Eric. "However, people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. The most you and Malfoy'll be able to do is send sparks at each other. And maybe you'd be able to disarm him. But neither of you knows enough magic to do any real damage. I bet he expected you to refuse, anyway."

"I didn't exactly get a chance to either refuse or accept," said Alexis.

Sophie remarked, "Well, I hope you duel Malfoy and win. It'd serve him right."

"Sophia Amelia Persephone Kent!" exclaimed Hermione, looking horrified. "Alexis mustn't go wandering around the school at night. Think of all the points she'd lose Gryffindor if she was caught, and she's bound to be. It's really very selfish of you."

"And it's really none of your business," retorted Sophie. "And don't call me Sophia!"

Alexis sighed. "Sophie, Hermione, enough. I'll decide whether or not I want to go through with this duel. I'm going to see how Neville is doing." She got up and left.

After visiting with Neville, Alexis decided that she would go through with the duel and told Ron so, who then told Eric. She didn't mention it to Hermione, however, who would definitely disapprove and try to talk her out of it.

At half-past eleven, Alexis pulled on her dressing gown and slipped out the dorm room.

Ron came down the opposite stairs the same time she did. A few embers were still glowing in the fireplace, turning all the armchairs into hunched black shadows. They had almost reached the portrait hole when a voice spoke from the chair nearest them, "I can't believe you're going to do this, Alexis."

A lamp flickered on. It was Hermione, wearing a pink dressing gown and a frown. Sophie was in the chair next to her. "I don't like this, either, Alexis. I thought it over."

"Oh, just go back to bed!" snapped Ron furiously. Alexis could have kicked herself for not noticing that Hermione and Sophie hadn't gone to bed.

"I almost told Kyra and Percy," Hermione snapped. "They're prefects, they'd put a stop to this." Sophie made a face and shook her head in disgust.

Eric came down. "Oh, if Alexis wants to duel Malfoy, let her, Hermione." Alexis pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and climbed through the hole, Ron after her.

Hermione and Sophie weren't going to give up that easily. They followed Ron through the hole. "Don't you _care_ about Gryffindor, do you _only_ care about yourselves?" asked Sophie. She had clearly come over to Hermione's way of thinking. "_I _don't want Slytherin to win the house cup and you'll lose all the points Hermione and I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells."

Eric had come out as well, with the intent of trying to stop Hermione and Sophie "Just leave Alexis and Ron alone. Let's go back inside."

"All right," snapped Hermione. She gave Alexis a Look. "I warned you, you just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so –."

But what they were, they didn't find out. Hermione, Eric, and Sophie had turned to the portrait of the Fat Lady to get back inside and found themselves facing an empty painting. The Fat Lady had done on a nighttime visit and they were locked out of Gryffindor tower.

The three then decided to accompany Alexis and Ron to the trophy room. At the end of the corridor, they found Neville. He was curled up on the floor, fast asleep, but he jerked suddenly awake as they crept nearer. He explained that he'd forgotten the password. As the Fat Lady was gone and he didn't want to remain there alone, he joined them.

When they arrived at the trophy room, Malfoy and Crabbe weren't there yet. When midnight had come and gone, Alexis began to wonder if Malfoy had chickened out, or if it was a trap. When the voice of Filch was heard, she knew that it was a trap. They scurried silently towards the door away from Filch's voice.

She beckoned to the others and petrified, they began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armour. They could hear Filch getting nearer. Neville suddenly let out a frightened squeak and broke into a run - he tripped, grabbed Ron around the waist and the pair of them toppled right into a suit of armour. The clanging and crashing were enough to wake the whole castle.

"RUN!" Alexis yelled and the six of them sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following. They ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway, hurtled along it and came out near the Charms classroom, which they knew was miles away from the trophy room.

"You were right, Hermione," panted Alexis. "I shouldn't have accepted. I'm sorry."

"Apology – accepted," gasped Hermione, clutching at the stitch in her chest.

"We've got to get back to Gryffindor tower," said Eric, "quickly as possible."

It wasn't going to be that simple. Peeves came out of a classroom and spotted them. When Ron made the mistake of snapping, "Get out of the way!" and took a swipe at Peeves, he began yelling.

"STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!" Ducking under Peeves they ran for their lives, right to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a door – and it was locked.

"This is it!" Neville moaned, as they pushed helplessly at the door. They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could towards Peeves' shouts.

"Oh, move over," Hermione snarled. She grabbed Alexis's wand, tapped the lock, and whispered, "_Alohomora!_" The lock clicked and the door swung open – they piled through it, shut it quickly and pressed their ears against it, listening.

Peeves, of course, was his usual annoying self. He said that he 'shan't say nothing if you don't sat please,' When Filch did say 'please', Peeves shouted, "NOTHING! Ha haaaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please." Still laughing, Peeves whooshed away and Filch was heard cursing in rage.

"He thinks this door is locked," Sophie whispered.

"I think we'll be okay, now," began Alexis. Then she turned to look at Neville, who was tugging on the sleeve of her dressing gown. "What is it, Neville?"

Then she turned around – and saw, quite clearly, what. For a moment, she was sure she'd walked into a nightmare. This was too much, on top of everything that had happened so far. They weren't in a room, as she had supposed. They were in the forbidden corridor on the third floor. And now they knew why it was forbidden.

They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous three-headed dog. Alexis paled and glanced at the ground. As she did so, she saw that it was standing on a trapdoor.

Alexis groped for the doorknob, between Filch and death, she'd take Filch. They fell backwards – she slammed the door shut, and they ran, almost flew, back down the corridor. Filch must have hurried off to look for them elsewhere, because they didn't see him anymore. However, they hardly cared – all they wanted to do was put as much space as possible between them and that monster. They didn't stop running until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady on the seventh floor.

After letting them in, the six collapsed, trembling, into armchairs.

It was a while before they said anything. Neville looked like he'd never speak again.

"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" asked Eric finally. "No wonder that the corridor is dangerous."

"Didn't any of you see what the dog was standing on?" inquired Alexis.

"The floor?" suggested Ron. "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads."

"No, _not_ the floor," snapped Hermione. "It was standing on a trapdoor." She stood up, glaring at them. "I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed – or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."

The others stared at her, mouth open. "No we don't mind," Ron said. "You'd think we dragged her along, wouldn't you?"

However, Alexis wasn't thinking of that. The dog was guarding something. And Kyra had said that Gringotts was the safest place in the world for something that you wanted to hide – except perhaps at Hogwarts. It looked as though whatever Hagrid had removed from Gringotts was now being hidden at the Hogwarts.


	10. Halloween

Malfoy appeared surprised when he saw Alexis and Ron at breakfast next morning. It was obvious that he'd expected them to have gotten in trouble. Hermione had forgiven Alexis, who had apologized many times for not listening to her. However, Hermione was rather curt with Ron and Eric, who showed no sign of repentance. In fact, they thought the narrow escape from the three-headed dog was something of an adventure and were keen to have more. By the end of breakfast, Hermione stopped speaking to them and asked Alexis and Sophie to relay her words to them.

Neville had been very frightened with the entire incidence, and appeared to lose what confidence he had gained. In Transfiguration and Charms class, he didn't have any luck with any of the spells. In Potions, he knocked over his cauldron in Potions, prompting Snape to take off ten points and threatening detention if he continued to be so clumsy. Neville would have dissolved into tears if Sophie hadn't snapped, "Leave Neville alone, Professor! It's not his fault he knocked over his cauldron! You're being unfair, taking points off for just being a little clumsy."

Snape turned an icy glare at her. "Do not presume to tell me how to discipline my students, Miss Kent!" he hissed angrily. "Ten points from Gryffindor and you have detention with me tonight."

Sophie opened her mouth to argue, but Alexis kicked her ankle and hissed, "Shut up!" Sophie closed her mouth, but did turn and glare at Alexis before continuing work on their potion.

During dinner, Sophie did not speak to Alexis at all, and her replies to Hermione and Neville were rather short and snappish. When she finished eating, she left for Snape's detention in a black mood.

Alexis took out parchment, ink, and quill, and began writing her letters to Ginny and Luna. Luna was admittedly rather odd, but she seemed nice, and Alexis decided to be polite and write a return letter. She wasn't completely sure about a correspondence, but it wouldn't be bad to learn about Luna's, er, unique, view of things. After all, if you told Muggles that dragons and goblins existed, they would think you were either crazy or had an overactive imagination, despite the fact that they were real. It was entirely possible that some of the creatures Luna insisted existed really did exist. Furthermore, the Dursleys considered anyone odd or with magic freaks, and Alexis didn't want to be like them.

Alexis had just finished writing the letter to Luna when an old owl flew into the common room and crashed into the back of the chair she was sitting on. Ron picked it up and said, "This is Errol, the family owl. He's old and doesn't do too well with deliveries." He untied two letters and after glancing at the addresses, handed one to Alexis. "This one is from Dad."

Alexis remembered Ginny saying in her last letter that Mr. Weasley was obsessed with everything Muggles and to not be surprised if he sent a letter asking about Muggle stuff. It looked as if Mr. Weasley had done so. Alexis read the letter, which asked how she was, mentioned the correspondence she had with Ginny, and then was devoted to questions pertaining to Muggles and Muggle things.

Alexis took out more parchment and began writing. She explained how to use a telephone, the Muggle post office, and the function of a rubber duck. Then she did her best to explain electricty, plugs, batteries, and light bulbs, dredging up what she learned about them in science class. When she finished the letter, she gathered it plus the ones for Ginny and Luna and went to the Owlery. Hedwig was there and Alexis tied the three letters to her owl's legs.

"Please deliver the letters to Ginny, her father, and Luna, Hedwig." Hedwig hooted assent, and after gently nipping Alexis on the index finger, took off. Alexis returned to the common room to read.

Sophie returned at ten o'clock, her temper still not improved. She informed Alexis and Hermione that Snape had made her scrub cauldrons without magic. "I suppose I shouldn't have talked to Snape like that, but he didn't need to be so horrible about it. Well, I'm going to bed. Good-night, Hermione and Alexis."

On Monday, Alexis received a letter from Mrs. Channing, congratulating her on getting on the Gryffindor Quidditch. At the end, Mrs. Channing wrote that she and Professor McGonagall had arranged a surprise. Alexis put down the letter and asked, "Kyra, do you know anything about the surprise your mother and Professor McGonagall have arranged?"

Kyra smiled widely and nodded, but responded, "I'm not saying anything. You'll find out what the surprise is when the time comes." Then she became serious. "Alexis, I suggest you stay away from Emma for the next couple days, until I have a talk with her. She's currently starting to feel some jealousy towards you, because of the attention you're getting from our Mum. She didn't mind at first, because your relatives weren't exactly nice to you, and she felt someone had to make up for it. But the surprise Mum helped arrange for you didn't go down so well with Emma. I have no problems with it. I know Mum isn't ignoring us. She just wants you to feel that you're loved."

Alexis didn't look very happy with this piece of news. She liked Emma, and was friendly with her, but she didn't want to be the cause of jealousy. She didn't ask Mrs. Channing to devote some attention to her, or help arrange a surprise. She pushed away her plate of food and got up, all appetite gone. As she passed the Hufflepuff table, she saw Emma get up and glare at her. "Alexis Potter, just because you're famous and have relatives that aren't nice to you doesn't mean you can take so much of my mother's attention! It's one thing to have her take you with us to Diagon Alley or King's Cross. But it's another when she starts spending so much money on a surprise for you! The only time she's ever spent so much money, besides on new furniture and appliances, was to buy me and Kyra bicycles. You're not her daughter! What right do you have to get her to spend so much money on you? Especially when you have a full Gringotts vault."

Alexis looked taken aback and had to work hard to keep from bursting into tears at the tirade. Kyra came over, an angry look on her face. "Emma Natalia Channing, that was out of line!" she snapped. "None of this is Alexis's fault."

"Sure, take her side," said Emma nastily. "Kyra Evanna Channing, I'm your sister! You should be taking my side!" Then she glared at Alexis again. "Now look, Alexis. You've corrupted my sister into taking her side."

"That is enough!" said Kyra sternly. "Emma, hold your tongue or I'll give you a detention and speak to Professor Sprout. Come with me. We are going to have a talk, and you will understand why you can't go about being rude to people. Alexis, ignore everything Emma said to you. She'll learn the error of her ways and apologize."

Alexis nodded, and left the Great Hall before she could burst into tears. She then dashed up to the secret room on the third floor. Lady Felicity took one look at her distraught face and let her in without the password. Alexis then collapsed in the nearest chair and began crying. What Emma had said had hurt her. She didn't mean for Mrs. Channing to devote so much attention to her. And why would Emma suddenly be so jealous now? She had been so excited about introducing the wizarding world to Alexis, and telling her all about Hogwarts. But now she jealous of the attention her mother was paying to Alexis.

The entrance hole opened and Sophie came in. She sat down and took Alexis in her arms. "Everything will be all right, Alexis. Once Emma realizes that she's wrong to be jealous, she'll apologize and go back to being on friendly terms with you."

Alexis wiped her eyes. "I know, but what Emma said hurt. It's not like with Malfoy. His very nature is unpleasant, and I can deal with it. But Emma's usually nice, and I didn't expect her to be jealous and say such nasty things to me."

"Alexis, if you don't mind telling me, how did your relatives treat you?" asked Sophie. "Besides their spending very little money on you."

"My cousin Dudley and his group of friends liked to bully me," answered Alexis. "My aunt and uncle looked the other way. They didn't harm me, though every time I did accidental magic, I was grounded and confined to my room except for school for several days."

"Anything else?" pressed Sophie gently. "I swear I won't tell anyone what you tell me, unless you give me permission."

"There is nothing else I wish to say," replied Alexis shortly. "I really don't want to talk about my life at the Dursleys."

Sophie raised a brow. "All right then. But Alexis, I get the feeling that your relatives might have treated you the way Miss Minchin treated Sara Crewe after she became poor in _A Little Princess_. You know, made you do a great deal of chores and sleep in a tiny attic room."

"And how did you read _A Little Princess_?" demanded Alexis. "That's a Muggle book, Sophie."

"My grandmother's library is very extensive," responded Sophie. "It had Muggle books along with wizarding ones."

"Oh. Well, my aunt and uncle didn't make me sleep in the attic. They didn't even have one. My bedroom happens to be a regular room, though it is the smallest bedroom in the house. As for chores, I did have to wash the dishes and take out the rubbish." What Alexis said was the truth, but not the complete truth. Sophie gave her a look that said quite clearly that she felt that there was more.

"All right. Well, we'd better leave now, or we'll be late for Transfiguration." Alexis wiped away the last traces of her tears and got up.

After supper, Emma found Alexis, an apologetic look on her face. "I am so extremely sorry for what I said this morning, Alexis. I could never express all my sorrow, no, not if I used up a whole dictionary. You must just imagine it. I behaved terribly to you. Kyra explained to me that you didn't ask Mum to pay so much attention to you or arrange a surprise for getting on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I know she's right, and with the way your relatives don't like you or magic, someone has to be nice to you and make up for it. So please, please, forgive me and be my friend again. If you refuse it will be a lifelong sorrow to me."

Alexis could tell that Emma's apology was sincere, despite the fact that she recognized part of it as what Anne Shirely had said in her apology to Mrs. Lynde in the book_ Anne of Green Gables_. Behind her, Sophie and Hermione exchanged looks. "Isn't the apology partly taken from that book by L.M. Montgomery?" Alexis heard Hermione whisper.

"I accept your apology, Emma," said Alexis. "I forgive you and we can be friends again."

"Thank you, Alexis," said Emma humbly. "Er, you probably figured out that I copied part of my apology from a book. It's just that I wasn't exactly sure how to express how sorry I was to you, and I decided what Anne said in her apology fit."

Alexis held back her laughter, having seen the funny side of the apology, as well as Emma's expression. "That's all right, Emma." Emma, a relieved look on her face, smiled and hurried away.

On Thursday, six large screech owls bearing a long, thin package flew to the Gryffindor table at breakfast and left it in front of Alexis. They had hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel. She ripped open the letter first, which was lucky, because it said:

_DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE.  
It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everyone knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one.  
Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch pitch at seven o'clock for your first training session. Mrs. Channing sends her regards and wishes you good luck. She paid for most of the cost of the broom.  
Professor M. McGonagall_

Alexis gasped and handed the letter to her friends to read. "A Nimbus Two Thousand!" Ron moaned enviously. "I've never even touched one."

"Well, seeing as they only came out over the summer, of course you wouldn't have touched one," commented Sophie.

The six left the Hall quickly, as Alexis wanted to un-wrap the broomstick in private before their first lesson, but halfway across the Entrance Hall they found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle.

Malfoy seized the package from Alexis and felt it. "That's a broomstick," he said, throwing it back to her with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. "You'll be in for it this time, Potter, first-years aren't allowed them."

Ron couldn't resist it. "It's not any old broomstick," he said, "It's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" Ron grinned at Alexis. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."

"What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped back. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up, twig by twig."

Before Ron could answer, Professor Flitwick appeared at Malfoy's elbow. "Not arguing, I hope, boys?" he squeaked.

"Alexis Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor," said Malfoy quickly.

"Yes, yes, that's right," said Professor Flitwick beaming at Harry. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Miss Potter. And what model is it?"

"A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir," said Alexis, fighting not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy's face. "And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that I've got it," she added.

They headed upstairs, Alexis, Ron, Sophie, and Eric smothering their laughter at Malfoy's obvious rage and confusion.

"Well it's true," Alexis chortled as they reached the top of the marble staircase. "If he hadn't stolen Neville's Rememberall I wouldn't be in the team ..."

Hermione looked slightly disapproving. "I hope you don't think this is a reward for breaking rules, Alexis."

Alexis sighed. "Hermione, I don't. I wasn't expecting for Professor McGonagall and Mrs. Channing to get me the best broom there is. No wonder Emma was feeling a little jealous."

"You want Gryffindor to win the Quidditch Cup, don't you, Hermione?" asked Neville. "And in turn have it help us win the House Cup?"

"Well, yes," admitted Hermione. "And that means Alexis would need a good broom. But she did break the rules when she went flying after Malfoy, even if he did provoke her. I was amazed that Professor McGonagall didn't punish her for it."

"Well, seeing as Gryffindor hasn't won the Quidditch Cup ever since Charlie Weasley left, it's understandable," said Eric. "McGonagall does enjoy watching Quidditch, and she does want Gryffindor to win. So she decided to overlook Alexis's transgression."

Hermione sighed and didn't say any more. In the common room, Alexis unwrapped the broom and her friends, even Hermione, exclaimed over it. Alexis, who didn't know that much about the different brooms, could still tell that the Nimbus was wonderful. After a few minutes, Hermione reminded them that they would be late for class, so Alexis stowed the broom away in her trunk.

After dinner, Alexis went outside to the Quidditch Pitch for her practice session. Oliver Wood wasn't there yet, but she was too eager to fly again, so she took off at once. Flying on the Nimbus Two Thousand was a wonderful experience, even better than on the school broom. After several minutes, Wood showed up with a crate under his arm and called Alexis down.

"Very nice," he said, his eyes glinting. "I see what McGonagall meant ... you really are a natural. I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you'll be joining team practice three times a week."

"I already know the rules," replied Alexis. "I read _Quidditch Through the Ages_. And Kyra explained the rules to me."

Wood sighed. "Ah, yes, Kyra. She's into Quidditch too, but she's not particularly good at flying." A pink tinge appeared on his cheeks, and Alexis wondered if Oliver had a crush on Kyra.

"Well, since you know the rules, I won't have to teach you," continued Wood, the slight blush gone. He showed Alexis the balls and smiled approvingly as she named them and listed what the Chasers, Beaters, Keeper, and Seeker did. Then was the practice. As it was too dark, they couldn't practice with the Snitch for fear of losing them. Instead, Wood threw golf balls for Alexis to catch. She didn't miss a single one and he was delighted.

After half an hour, night had really fallen and they couldn't carry on. "That Quidditch Cup'll have our name on it this year," said Wood happily as they trudged back up to the castle. "I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons."

The next day was Hermione's twelfth birthday. She had finally forgiven Ron and Eric and were talking to them, but not as much as she did with the others. Ron found out the way to get into the kitchens from his twin brothers, and he along with the others (except for Hermione), went down to the kitchens after class. The house-elves there were quite happy to provide food for Hermione's birthday party. They were the only ones besides the few students to know about the room behind Lady Felicity's portrait and sent up a cake and a few plates of other treats to the room.

Hermione was very surprised, as well as delighted, with the party. She didn't even comment at all on how sweets were bad for your teeth. She simply thanked her friends, ate some cake and other food, and then opened her presents. Alexis, Ron, and Neville had gotten her books. Sophie had given her a charm bracelet, with book, wand, and witch's hat charms and Eric gave her a diary. When the party ended, Hermione hugged each of her friends and thanked them again for the party and presents.

* * *

Perhaps it was because she was now so busy, what with Quidditch practice three evenings a week on top of all his homework, but Alexis could hardly believe it when she realized that she'd already been at Hogwarts two months. The castle felt more like home than Privet Drive had ever done. She had a great relationship with her five friends, and her lessons, too, were becoming more and more interesting now that they had mastered the basics. 

On Halloween morning they woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he though they were ready to start making objects fly, something they had all been dying to try since they'd seen him make Neville's toad zoom around the classroom.

Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Alexis's partner was Seamus Finnigan, to her disappointment. She didn't know him very well, and would have preferred being paired with one of her friends. Ron was with Hermione, and he didn't look too enthusiastic about it, despite the fact that they were friends.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too - never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

It was very difficult. Alexis and Seamus swished and flicked, but the feather they were supposed to be sending skywards just lay on the desktop. The best Alexis was able to do was to get the feather to flop about a little. Seamus got so impatient that he prodded it with his wand and set fire to it - Alexis had to put it out with her hat.

Ron, at the next table, wasn't having much more luck. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.

"You're saying it wrong," Alexis heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."

"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled, clearly out of patience with his failed attempts.

Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!" Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.

"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"

Ron was in a very bad temper by the end of the class. He was frustrated by the fact that Hermione had levitated the feather when he couldn't, and it didn't matter to him that Eric and Sophie had also succeeded. (Mainly because Sophie had secretly practiced spells with her mother's wand and Eric had some lessons from his grandparents.)

"What an annoying know-it-all!" snapped Ron as they left the classroom. "Honestly, she can be a nightmare at times. It's a wonder we're even her friends."

Sophie gave him a reproachful look. Alexis opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by someone knocking into her as they hurried past. It was Hermione. Alexis caught a glimpse of her face - and was startled to see that she was in tears. "I think she heard you."

"So?" said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "You've noticed how she acts sometimes."

"Hermione is our friend," said Eric severely. "You can't just go around insulting her, Ron."

"And she's nice," added Neville. "She's always happy to help me with homework and tutoring me in spellwork."

Ron looked even more uncomfortable and muttered, "I guess I'll go apologize to her later."

"You'd better," said Alexis. "Just because you're mad over at not getting a spell doesn't mean you can take it out on Hermione."

Hermione didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. Finally Alexis and Sophie found her in a bathroom. They did their best to comfort Hermione and tell her that Ron was sorry, to no avail. Hermione still kept on crying, and insisted on being left alone. Finally Alexis and Sophie gave up and reluctantly went to the Halloween feast.

Outside the Great Hall, Alexis and Sophie coldly informed Ron about Hermione's frame of mind. He looked still more awkward at this, and said he would find Hermione before bed and beg forgiveness. Then they went inside.

A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles and pumpkins skitter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.

Alexis was just helping himself to a jacket potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the Hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table and gasped, "Troll - in the dungeons - thought you ought to know." He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.

There was an instant uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.

"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

Percy was in his element. "Follow me! Stick together, first-years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first-years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a Prefect!" Kyra rolled her eyes as she started rounding up the younger students.

"How could a troll get in?" Alexis asked as they climbed the stairs.  
"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Ron. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke."

They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Ron suddenly gasped. "Hermione doesn't know about the troll!"

Neville turned pale. "Does this mean we have to find her and warn her?"

"Well, of course!" exclaimed Sophie. "She's our friend. Just make sure Percy and Kyra don't see us."

Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor and hurried off towards the girls' toilets. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them.

"Percy!" hissed Ron. They quickly hid behind a large stone griffin. Peering around it, however, Alexis saw not Percy but Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.

"What's Snape doing?" she whispered. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?"

"Search me," answered Eric, shrugging.

Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps.

"He's heading for the third floor," Alexis said, but Sophie held up her hand.

"Can you smell something?"

Alexis sniffed and a foul stench reached his nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean. And then they heard it - a low grunting and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Ron pointed: at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving towards them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.

It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was dull, granite grey, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horn y feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.

The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.

"The key's in the lock," Ron muttered. "We could lock it in."

"Good idea," said Neville nervously.

"No, it's not, you idiots!" hissed Alexis. "That's the girls' bathroom! The one Hermione's in!"

Just then, proving her words right, they heard something that made their hearts stop - A high, petrified scream - and it was coming from the room. "Oh, no," gasped Eric, pale as the Bloody Baron.

"Hermione!" the five of them exclaimed together.

It was the last thing they wanted to do, but what choice did they have? They sprinted to the door and ran inside. Hermione was shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if she were about to faint. The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.

"Confuse it!" Alexis said desperately, and seizing a tap she threw it as hard as she could against the wall.

The troll stopped a few feet from Hermione. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Alexis. It hesitated, then made for her instead, lifting its club as it went.

"Oy, pea-brain!" yelled Ron from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it.

The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout towards Ron instead, giving Alexis time to run around it.

"Come on, run, run!" Alexis yelled at Hermione, trying to pull her towards the door, but she couldn't move, she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open with terror.

Neville seized a broken tile and threw it at the troll, while Sophie futilely tried to disarm it. The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started towards Ron, who was nearest and had no way to escape.

Eric threw a tap, distracting it from Ron. Ron pulled out his own wand - not knowing what he was going to do, he heard himself cry the first spell that came into his head: "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over - and dropped, with a sickening crack, on to its owner's foot. The troll let out a bellow of pain and began flailing about. "Stun it!" shouted Sophie, drawing out her wand. "We've been practicing Stunners, remember?"

All of them, except for Hermione, who was still too terrified, pointed their wands at the troll. At the same time, the five of them shouted, "_STUPEFY_!" One Stunner alone might not have been enough to knock out the troll, especially considering their age, but the five combined was enough. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.

Hermione finally recovered from her terror to climb to her feet. A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the six of them look up. They hadn't realized what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart. Snape bent over the troll.

Professor McGonagall was looking at the Gryffindors. Alexis had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white. Hopes of winning fifty points for Gryffindor faded quickly from Alexis's mind.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice.

Alexis looked at her friends, who were still standing with their wands in the air. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

Snape gave Alexis a swift, piercing look. She looked at the floor, wand lowered. Then a small voice came out of the shadows. "Please, Professor McGonagall - they were looking for me."

"Miss Granger!"

"I went looking for the troll because I - I thought I could deal with it on my own - you know, because I've read all about them." Ron dropped his wand. Hermione Granger, telling a downright lie to a teacher? "If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. They distracted it from me, Ron hit it in the foot with its own club, and finally they managed to Stun it. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they had arrived." The others tried to look as if this story wasn't new to them.

"Well - in that case ..." said Professor McGonagall, staring at the six of them. "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"

Hermione hung her head. Alexis was speechless. Hermione was the last person to do anything against the rules, and here she was, pretending she had, to get them out of trouble. It was as if Snape had started handing out sweets.

"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for that," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you are not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor Tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses." Hermione left.

Professor McGonagall turned to the remaining five. "Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first-years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

They hurried out of the chamber. Hermione was waiting by the stairs and they didn't speak at all until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.

"Thank you for rescuing me from the troll, guys," said Hermione finally.

"No problem, Hermione. And we did win twenty-five points," said Neville, in a bright tone of voice.

"You mean twenty, once McGonagall's taken off Hermione's," corrected Sophie.

"Good of you to get us out of trouble like that, Hermione," Ron admitted. "Though we did save you."

"Well, if you hadn't insulted Hermione, she wouldn't have been in the bathroom in the first place," said Alexis. Ron turned red.

"Look on the bright side, you know the Levitation Charm now," pointed out Eric. "Maybe we should do that the next time you have trouble learning a spell, Ron. Threaten you with a troll."

They all chuckled. After a couple minutes, they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Pig snout," they said and entered.

The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. The six of them looked at each other, then hurried off to get plates. But from that moment on, their bond of friendship with each other was strengthened. There are some things you can't share without becoming friends or even better friends, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.


	11. Quidditch

Author's Note: I would like to thank my sister, Amy, for her help with this chapter. She's only eleven, so she can't have an account here. But she is a great help with this fic. Kyra's best friend is named after her. She was the one who suggested that Daphne Greengrass not be a stereotypical Slytherin and have her be nice. She also suggested Pansy becoming Alexis's enemy like Malfoy is, but I'm not going to do that. I recently read a very good fic where Harry is a girl and Pansy took the place of Malfoy, so I can't do it without looking like I'm copying the author. Pansy will insult Alexis sometimes, and there will likely be a few run-ins, but nothing like Alexis and Malfoy.

As they entered November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains around the school became icy grey and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in frost. Hagrid could be seen from the upstairs windows defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch pitch, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit fur gloves, and enormous beaver skin boots.

The Quidditch season had begun. On Saturday, Alexis would be playing in her first match after weeks of training: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. If Gryffindor won, they would move up to first place in the house championship.

Hardly anyone had seen Alexis play because Wood had decided that, as their secret weapon, she should be kept, well, secret. But the news that she was playing Seeker had leaked out somehow. Alexis didn't know which was worse – people telling her she'd be brilliant or people telling her they'd be running around underneath her holding a mattress. Pansy Parkinson remarked loudly in Alexis's hearing once, "I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up in the Hospital Wing five minutes into the match."

Millicent Bulstrode and Tracey Davis laughed loudly, but Daphne Greengrass didn't. She glanced at Alexis, then said, "I don't know, Pansy. Alexis is a good flyer, as we've seen in flying class. I really doubt she'll end up in the Hospital Wing."

Pansy stared at Daphne. "What is the matter with you? Do you _want_ Gryffindor to win?"

Daphne turned scarlet. "No! Of course I want Slytherin to win. How can you think that?"

Alexis and Sophie exchanged looks. Something was different about Daphne. For one thing, she rarely said anything against the Gryffindors, and seemed to be a decent person. The few times she had made fun of the Gryffindors, it had looked as if she was being pressured into it by the other Slytherins. Perhaps she was one of the few good Slytherins. Also, Sophie had spent some time with Daphne before and had found her to be nice.

Later, in the courtyard, Alexis and her friends were warming themselves at two bright blue fires Alexis and Hermione had conjured and carried in jam jars. Ever since the troll incident, Alexis's skill in magic had improved greatly and she was mastering spells almost as fast as Hermione. She still had a bit of a problem in Charms, but otherwise, her spell work was quite good. Currently, she was tied with Sophie for second place in their classes, while Hermione was the top student. Eric was third in their year.

Daphne approached them, looking extremely nervous. For once, she wasn't with Pansy or the other Slytherin girls. Daphne looked around, then said quickly, "I'm sorry about what Pansy said. She had no right to say something like that about you, Alexis. Good luck."

"Er, thank you, Daphne," said Alexis, bemused. She looked at Hermione, who shrugged.

"Do you really mean what you said?" demanded Ron. "You're a Slytherin."

"I don't want to be," responded Daphne sharply. "But I didn't have the courage to have the Sorting Hat place me in Gryffindor. My family would be very angry with me. I didn't want to receive a Howler like you did, Eric. My family would have accepted my being in Ravenclaw, because that would show that I'm clever. But the Sorting Hat said I wouldn't fit there, so I told it that it might as well put me in Slytherin to please my parents."

"I see," said Sophie. "I thought you looked resigned when you left the stool and joined the Slytherin table during the Sorting. Well, Daphne, it's –" She broke off as she spotted Professor Snape crossing the yard. He was limping. The others noticed him as well and quickly moved closer together to block the fires from view.

Daphne jumped and quickly hurried over to Snape, pulling an essay out of her schoolbag. "Professor, I have a question about the essay you assigned." He looked at her and nodded.

He gestured for her to continue and Daphne asked her question as she walked by him. "That was unexpected," remarked Eric, staring at Daphne's retreating back. "Well, I guess there have to be decent Slytherins. But I never thought Daphne would be one."

"Well, she was pretty nice the few times I've been with her," said Sophie. "My grandmother took me to visit the Greengrasses twice. They've also shown up three times at the party Grandmother gives every year on Boxing Day. Daphne was a little boring, but she was polite and willing to read the Muggle books in Grandmother's library."

"Well, I don't think we'll ever be friends with Daphne," commented Alexis. "But we do know that she's not a stereotypical Slytherin and won't bother us like Malfoy and Pansy. Anyway, did you notice that Snape was limping? I wonder what's wrong with his leg."

"Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him," answered Ron bitterly. Hermione gave him a reproving look. Alexis sighed, not sure about her feelings on Snape. Since the first class, he had mostly ignored her. She produced perfect potions in every class, so Snape could find nothing to sneer about concerning her. All he could do was comment on Neville's clumsiness and lack of potion brewing skill and the less than perfect potions Ron made.

That evening, Alexis was answering the letter Luna had sent that morning. It had been full of descriptions of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack and the other creatures Luna believed in. Some pictures she had drawn had been included, along with a copy of the November issue of _The Quibbler_. Ron had flipped through the magazine and laughed over the things in it. Hermione and Sophie had frowned, but hadn't said anything.

Alexis finished writing and looked up to see Hermione checking Ron and Harry's Charms homework and Sophie helping Neville with the Potions essay. The portrait hole opened and Kyra came in. She walked over to Alexis and sat down next to her. "I went to the staff room to see Professor McGongall about something. However, she wasn't there. I did see Snape and Filch, though. Snape had a bloody and mangled leg and Filch was handing him bandages. I heard Snape say something about 'keeping your eyes on all three heads at once.' Do you have any idea what he could have meant, Alexis?"

Alexis shook her head in reply, but Kyra raised a brow. "Are you sure? I didn't say anything, but I know you and your friends snuck out around midnight once. Something involving a duel with Draco Malfoy, I believe? Then later, I overheard Hermione telling Eric and Ron off. And then she didn't speak to them for about a week."

"How did you find out, Kyra?" demanded Alexis. "And why didn't you say anything?"

"Amy heard Malfoy challenge you and Ron accept the duel for you. She told me about it, including the part where you told Ron that you hadn't accepted the duel. I thought you had more sense than to go, but when I heard Hermione tell you guys off, I realized you had gone. Since you hadn't been caught, I decided not to say anything."

"Oh. Kyra, I have no idea what Snape could have meant." Kyra gave her a look, but got up. Once she was gone, Alexis told her friends what Kyra had told her.

"Do you know what this means?" she finished breathlessly. "Snape tried to get past that three-headed dog at Halloween! That's where he was going when we saw him – he's after whatever it's guarding! At least, it looks like it."

"Are you sure?" asked Hermione. "I know he's not very nice, but he wouldn't try and steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe, would he?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," muttered Eric darkly. "I bet _he_ let that troll in."

"But how would he be able to?" inquired Sophie. "Snape was at the staff table throughout the feast, while Quirrell wasn't. Quirrell only came running in to tell us about the troll."

"So you're saying that Quirrell might have let that troll in?" asked Neville. "It's possible, Sophie, but not likely. He's scared of his own shadow. I don't think he'd let a troll in."

Sophie shrugged. "Well, someone had to have let the troll in. Maybe it wasn't Quirrell, but I do find it odd that he wasn't at feast until he came running in about the troll. Though maybe it was Snape, because he did try to get past that Cerberus."

Alexis stood up. "Well, there's no way we can solve this mystery anytime soon. I'm going to have Hedwig deliver this letter, then I'm going to bed. The Quidditch match is tomorrow and I need to get some sleep."

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The next morning dawned very bright and cold. The Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of fried sausages and the cheerful chatter of everyone looking forward to a good Quidditch match. Alexis picked at her food and couldn't eat anything. Eric said that she needed to eat some breakfast. Hermione tried to wheedle her into having a bit of toast, but Alexis turned it down, saying that she wasn't hungry.

"Alexis, you need your strength," said Seamus Finnigan. "Seekers are always the ones who get nobbled by the other team."

"Thanks, Seamus," said Alexis sourly, watching Seamus pile ketchup on his sausages. She finally managed to force down two spoonfuls of porridge, a bite of toast, and a few sips of milk. Then she left the table.

By eleven o'clock the whole school seemed to be out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. Many students had binoculars. The seats might be raised high in the air but it was still difficult to see what was going on sometimes. Alexis's friends joined the other first year Gryffindors up in the top row. As a surprise for Alexis, they had painted a large banner on one of the sheets Ron's rat Scabbers had ruined. It said _Go Alexis Potter! _And Dean, who was good at drawing, had done a large Gryffindor lion underneath. Then Hermione had performed a tricky little charm so the pain flashed different colours.

Meanwhile. In the changing rooms, Alexis and the rest of the team were changing into their scarlet Quidditch robes. Wood then cleared his throat and began his speech, with Fred and George interrupting right after he'd begun, repeating the speech he'd said last year. Wood told them to shut up and continued speaking.

When he was done, the team walked out on to the pitch to loud cheers. Madam Hooch was refereeing. She stood in the middle of the pitch waiting for the two teams, her broom in her hand. "Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you," she said, once they were all gathered around her. Alexis noticed that she seemed to be speaking particularly to the Slytherin captain, Marcus Flint, a sixth year. Alexis thought Flint looked as if he had some troll blood in him. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the fluttering banner high above over the crowd. Her heart skipped. She felt better.

Madam Hooch gave a loud blast on her silver whistle. Fifteen brooms rose up, high, high, into the air. They were off. "And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor – what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too –"

"JORDAN!" "Sorry, Professor." The Weasley twins' friend, Lee Jordan, was doing the commentary for the match, closely watched by Professor McGonagall.

The commentary continued and after a couple of minutes, Angelina made a score. Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air, with howls and moans from the Slytherins.

Hagrid turned up then and Neville and Sophie squeezed together to give him enough space to join them. "Bin watchin' from me hut," said Hagrid, patting a large pair of binoculars around his neck. "But it isn't the same as bein' in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?"

"Nope," replied Ron. "Alexis hasn't had much to do yet."

"Kept outta trouble, though, that's somethin'," said Hagrid. He raised his binoculars and peered skywards at the speck that was Alexis.

Way up above them, Alexis was gliding over the game, squinting about for some sign of the Snitch. This was part of her and Wood's game plan. "Keep out of the way until you catch sight of the Snitch," Wood had said. "We don't want you attacked before you have to be."

When Angelina had scored, Alexis had done a couple of loop-the-loops to let off her feelings. Now she was back to staring around for the Snitch. Once she caught sight of a flash of gold, but it was just a reflection from one of the Weasleys' wristwatches, Once a Bludger decided to come pelting her way, more like a cannon ball than anything, but she dodged it and Fred came chasing after it. "All right there, Alexis?" he had time to yell, as he beat the Bludger furiously towards Marcus Flint.

"Slytherin in possession," Lee was saying. "Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys and Chaser Bell and speeds towards the–wait a moment – was that the Snitch?" A murmur ran through the crowd as Adrian Pucey dropped the Quaffle, too busy looking over his shoulder at the flash of gold that had passed his left ear.

Alexis saw it. In a great rush of excitement she dived downwards after the streak of gold. Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs had seen it too. Neck and neck they hurtled towards the Snitch – all the Chasers seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing as they hung in mid-air to watch. Alexis was faster than Higgs – she could see the little round ball, wings fluttering, darting up ahead – she put on an extra spurt of speed –

WHAM! A roar of rage echoed from the Gryffindors below – Marcus Flint had blocked Alexis on purpose and her broom span off course, Alexis holding on for dear life.

"Foul!" screamed the Gryffindors. Madam Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and then ordered a free shot at the goal posts for Gryffindor. But in all the confusion, of course, the Golden Snitch had disappeared from sight again.

Alicia Spinnet took the penalty and made the goal. Play continued.

It was as Alexis dodged another Bludger, which went spinning dangerously past her head, that it happened. Her broom gave a sudden, frightening lurch. For a split second, she thought she was going to fall. She gripped the broom tightly with both her hands and knees. She had never felt anything like that before.

It happened again. It was as though the broom was trying to buck her off. But Nimbus Two Thousands did not suddenly decide to buck their riders off. Alexis tried to turn back towards the Gryffindor goal posts. She had half a mind to ask Wood to call time out – and then she realised that her broom was completely out of her control. She couldn't turn it. She couldn't direct it at all. It was zig-zagging through the air and every now and then making violent swishing movements, which almost unseated her.

Lee was still commentating. Slytherin scored. The Slytherins cheered. No one seemed to have noticed that Alexis's broom was behaving strangely. It was carrying him slowly higher, away from the game, jerking and twitching as it went.

"Dunno what Alexis thinks she's doing," Hagrid mumbled. He stared through his binoculars. "If I didn' know better, I'd say she'd lost control of her broom … but she can't have …" Suddenly, people were pointing up at Alexis all over the stands. Her broom had started to roll over and over, with her only just managing to hold on.

Then the whole crowd gasped. Alexis's broom had given a wild jerk and Alexis swung off. She was now dangling from it, holding on with only one hand.

"What if something happened to it when Flint blocked her?" Neville asked worriedly.

"Can't have," Hagrid said, his voice shaking. "Can't nothing interfere with a broom except powerful Dark magic – no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."

At these words, Hermione seized Hagrid's binoculars. Instead of looking at up at Alexis, however, she started looking frantically at the crowd. Sophie did the same with her binoculars. "What are you girls doing?" moaned Ron, grey-faced.

"I knew it," Hermione gasped. "Snape – look." Ron grabbed the binoculars. Snape was in the middle of the stands opposite them. He had his eyes fixed on Alexis and was muttering non-stop under his breath. "He's doing something – jinxing the broom."

"Well, Quirrell's doing something to!" exclaimed Sophie, handing Eric her binoculars so he could look. "He's muttering and staring at Alexis."

Eric took a look, then handed it to Neville. "Sophie's right. Which means one of them is jinxing Alexis and the other probably saying the counterjinx."

"What should we do?" asked Neville, white with fear.

"Leave it to us," said Sophie and Hermione at the same time. Before the boys could say another word, the girls had disappeared. Ron and Eric turned the binoculars back on Alexis. Her broom was vibrating so hard, it was almost impossible for her to hang on much longer. The whole crowd were on their feet, watching, terrified, as the Weasleys flew up to try and pull her to safety on to one of their brooms. However, it was no good – every time they got near her, the broom would jump higher still. They dropped lower and circled beneath her, obviously hoping to catch her if she fell. Marcus Flint seized the Quaffle and scored five times without anyone noticing.

"Come on, Hermione and Sophie," Ron and Eric muttered desperately.

Hermione had fought her way across to the stand where Snape stood and was now racing along the row behind him. Reaching Snape, she crouched down, pulled out her wand, and whispered a few, well-chosen words. Bright blue flames shot from her wand on to the hem of Snape's robes.

It took perhaps thirty seconds for Snape to realise that he was on fire. A sudden yelp told her she had done her job. Scooping the fire off him into a little jar in her pocket she scrambled back along the row – Snape would never know what had happened.

In the meantime, Sophie had made her to where Quirrell was sitting in the row behind Snape. She crouched behind him, pulled out her wand, and whispered, "_Aguamenti!_" A jet of water shot out of her wand and onto the hem of Quirrell's robes. A few seconds later, Quirrell yelped and jumped up, pulling the back of his robes to the front. He stared at the wet spot and Sophie scrambled away.

It was enough. Up in the air, Alexis was suddenly able to clamber back on her broom.

"Neville, you can look!' exclaimed Ron. Neville had been sobbing into Hagrid's jacket for the last five minutes.

Alexis was speeding towards the ground when the crowd saw her clap her hand to her mouth as though she was about to be sick. She hit the pitch on all fours – coughed – and something gold fell into her hand. "I've got the Snitch!" she shouted, waving it above her head, and the game ended in complete confusion.

"She didn't _catch_ it, she nearly _swallowed_ it," Flint was still howling twenty minutes later, but it made no difference – Alexis hadn't broken any rules. Lee Jordan was still happily shouting the result – Gryffindor had won by one hundred and seventy points to sixty. Alexis heard none of this, though. She was being made a cup of strong tea back in Hagrid's hut, her friends with her.

"It was either Snape or Quirrell," Ron explained. "We saw them. One of them was cursing your broomstick, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off you. The other was probably doing the countercurse, though he could have also been cursing you."

"Rubbish," said Hagrid, who hadn't heard a word of what had gone on next to him in the stands. "Why would Snape or Quirrell do somethin' like that?"

The six of them looked at each other, wondering what to tell him. Alexis decided on the truth. "We found out something about him," she told Hagrid. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Halloween. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding. Though Quirrell might have let in the troll."

Hagrid dropped the teapot. "How do you know about Fluffy?" he demanded.

"_Fluffy?_" asked Sophie incredulously. Alexis privately thought that Fluffy and Fang ought to exchange names, though Fluffy wouldn't have suited the boarhound either. She wondered if Hagrid always named dangerous creatures silly, cute names and nice creatures scary-sounding names.

"Yeah – he's mine – bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year – I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the –."

"Yes?" asked Eric eagerly.

"Now, don't ask me any more," said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that is."

"But either Snape or Quirrell is trying to steal it!" protested Sophie.

"Rubbish," said Hagrid again. "They're Hogwarts teachers, they'd do nothin' of the sort."

"So why did one of them or both just try to kill Alexis?" cried Hermione. The afternoon's events certainly seemed to have changed her mind about Snape and Quirrell. "I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid, I've read all about them! You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him!"

"Quirrell wasn't blinking, either," added Sophie.

"I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong!" said Hagrid hotly. "I don' know why Alexis's broom acted like that, but Snape an' Quirrell wouldn' try an' kill a student! Now, listen to me, all three of yeh – yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guarding', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel –."

"Aha!" exclaimed Alexis. "So there's someone called Nicolas Flamel involved, is there?"

Hagrid looked furious with himself.


	12. Christmas Holidays

Author's Note: The author would like to thank her sister, Amy, for help in writing this chapter and enabling the author to update two chapters today.

Christmas was coming. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and Fred and George were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban. The few owls that managed to battle their way back through the stormy sky to deliver post had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again. Alexis had started out by writing to Ginny at least four times a week, and after making the Quidditch team, wrote to Ginny and Luna two or three times a week. With the weather that was going on, Alexis ended up writing to them only once or twice a week, to save Hedwig from having to make so many trips.

No one could wait for the holidays to start. While the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall had roaring fires, the draughty corridors had become icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms. Worst of all were Professor Snape's classes down in the dungeons, where their breath rose in a mist before them and they kept as close as possible to their hot cauldrons.

"I do feel so sorry," said Malfoy, one Potions, "for those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."

He was looking over at Alexis as he spoke. Crabbe and Goyle chuckled and Pansy shot her a vicious look. Alexis, who was measuring out powdered spine of lionfish, ignored them. Malfoy had been even more unpleasant than usual since the Quidditch match, and Pansy sometimes joined in. Disgusted that Slytherin had lost, he had tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing Alexis as Seeker next. Then he'd realised that nobody found this funny, because they were all so impressed at the way Alexis had managed to stay on her bucking broomstick. So Malfoy, jealous and angry, had gone back to taunting Alexis about having no proper family.

It was true that Alexis wasn't going back to Privet Drive for Christmas. Professor McGonagall had come around the week before, making a list of students who would be staying for the holidays, and Alexis had signed up at once. Of course, the next day, she'd gotten a letter from Mrs. Channing inviting her to spend Christmas. After some thought, Alexis had decided to decline. She didn't want to intrude on the Channings' Christmas, and she would eventually run into the Dursleys back in Little Whinging. Besides, Ron and his brothers were staying too, because Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were going to Romania to visit Charlie. Eric had also elected to stay, not wanting to face his grandparents' displeasure over the Christmas holidays. Sophie had decided to stay until her grandmother's annual party on Boxing Day, wanting to spend Christmas with friends.

Three days before, Alexis and her friends (besides Sophie and Neville), had received invitations written in elegant calligraphy from Sophie's grandmother. Each one had read:

As friend of Sophia Amelia Persephone Kent, your attendance is graciously requested for a formal gathering held on the twenty-sixth of December, at five o'clock in the afternoon. Formal dress robes are required. Please arrive promptly, or a few minutes before, by Floo. The destination is Silver Kent Manor. If you do not have access to the Floo, a Portkey will be arranged for you. Please R.S.V.P. by this Friday.

Neville didn't receive an invitation because his grandmother was the one that received the invitation for the entire Longbottom family. Ron looked at the invitation in surprise. "Mum and Dad used to get invitations from your grandmother, Sophie. But because it was so difficult for them to get someone to baby-sit for us, mainly due to Fred and George, they declined. After a few polite refusals, they stopped getting invitations."

"You guys are my friends, which is why Grandmother invited you," said Sophie. "You can keep me company. However, I do have to warn you, Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, Millicent, and Tracey will probably be there. Their families get invited because they're respectable purebloods in the wizarding world, though Grandmother doesn't think much of them. She wants to keep up appearances, however, so she hobnobs with them."

Alexis and her friends had decided to attend the party and had sent replies that morning. As Hermione didn't have access to the Floo Network, being Muggleborn, Mrs. Kent would arrange a Portkey for her. Alexis, Ron, and Sophie would use the fireplace in Professor McGonagall's office to attend the party. Their Head of House had also been invited. Apparently she had gone to school with Mrs. Kent, and was a friend.

The bell signalling the end of class rang, jarring Alexis out of her thoughts. When they left the dungeons, they found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud puffing sound told them that Hagrid was behind it. "Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" Ron asked, sticking his head through the branches.

"Nah, I'm all right, thanks, Ron."

"Would you mind moving out of the way?" came Malfoy's cold drawl from behind them. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose – that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to.

Hermione's eyes flashed while Ron dived at Malfoy just as Snape came up the stairs.

"WEASLEY!" Ron let go of the front of Malfoy's robes.

"He was provoked, Professor Snape," said Hagrid, sticking his huge hairy face out from behind the tree. "Malfoy was insultin' his family."

"Be that as it may, fighting is against the Hogwarts rules, Hagrid," said Snape silkily. "Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you." Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle pushed roughly past the tree, scattering needles everywhere and smirking.

"That was really unfair of Snape," remarked Hermione, frowning.

"I'll get him," said Ron, grinding his teeth at Malfoy's back, "one of these days, I'll –."

"Draco Malfoy!" called Sophie, interrupting what Ron was saying. Malfoy turned. "I wanted to let you know that your family isn't invited to my grandmother's party. She wrote to me yesterday about it. She had enough with your family."

A pink tinge appeared on Malfoy's cheeks. "How dare she! Does she know who –?"

"She knows that your family are not the sort she likes," snapped Sophie. "She only put up with you and the other Dark families that escaped Azkaban because you're respected. But Grandmother finally had enough. From now on, the only respectable families she plans to associate with are the ones that don't have a history of being into the Dark Arts."

Malfoy glared at her, then stalked away. Pansy, Millicent, Tracey, and Daphne showed up then. Sophie whirled around and snapped, "Pansy and Millicent, your families aren't invited to Grandmother's party, either. Tracey and Daphne, your families are still invited, because they're not suspected Death Eaters. And because you can be nice, Daphne."

Daphne looked slightly alarmed. "I was only nice to you in the past because my parents told me to be polite, Sophia. Your family name is respected, after all. But you're in Gryffindor and I'm in Slytherin, so we can't be friends or anything like that. Go away."

Sophie shrugged, while Alexis noticed that Daphne's eyes looked apologetic. It was obvious that Daphne did want to be friends, but didn't want to anger the Slytherins.

Pansy humphed and flounced away, the other Slytherin girls behind her. Hagrid asked, "Want to come with me an' see the Great Hall? It looks a treat."

The six of them followed Hagrid and his tree off to the Great Hall, where Professors McGonagall and Flitwick were busy with the Christmas decorations.

"Ah, Hagrid, the last tree – put it in the far corner, would you?"

The hall looked spectacular. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls and no fewer than twelve towering Christmas trees stood round the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles.

"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked.

"Just one," replied Alexis. "And that reminds me – guys, we've got half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library."

"Oh yeah, you're right," said Ron, tearing his eyes away from Professor Flitwick, who had golden bubbles blossoming out of his wand and was trailing them over the branches of the new tree.

"The library?" asked Hagrid, following them out of the hall. "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"

"Oh, we're not working," Eric responded brightly, "ever since you mentioned Nicolas Flamel we've been trying to find out who he is."

"You _what_?" Hagrid looked shocked. "Listen here – I've told yeh – drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'."

"We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, that's all," replied Hermione. She had even gone so far as to ask Professor McGonagall. She knew that it might annoy the teacher, but it was for her friends. McGonagall had given Hermione a suspicious look, then in an annoyed tone of voice had snapped, "That is none of your business, Miss Granger. Suffice it to say that Nicolas Flamel worked with Professor Dumbledore once."

"Unless you'd like to tell us and save us the trouble, Hagrid?" asked Neville.

"Please just give us a hint – I know I've read his name somewhere," begged Alexis.

"I'm not sayin' nothin'," said Hagrid.

"That's a double negative, Hagrid," said Hermione triumphantly. "Which means you will say something!" The others gave her a look.

"You know perfectly well what Hagrid means," snapped Sophie. "We're just going to have to find out for ourselves." They left Hagrid looking disgruntled.

They had indeed been searching books for Flamel's name ever since Hagrid had let it slip. The trouble was, it was very hard to know where to begin, not knowing what Flamel might have done to get himself in a book. Knowing that he had once worked with Dumbledore hadn't helped any, either. Flamel simply wasn't in any of the books they looked through. Also, there was the sheer size of the library; tens of thousands of books; thousands of shelves, hundreds of narrow rows. Hermione and Sophie took out lists of subjects and titles they had decided to search. Meanwhile. Eric and Ron strode down a row of books and started pulling them off the shelves at random. Neville grabbed a stack of books from one shelf and began leafing through them. Alexis wandered over to the Restricted Section. She had been wondering for a while if Flamel wasn't somewhere in there. Unfortunately, you needed a specially signed note from one of the teachers to look in any of the restricted books and she knew she'd never get one.

Madam Pince noticed her loitering about and shooed her out. Alexis and her friends had already agreed not to ask Madam Pince where they could find Flamel.

Alexis waited outside the corridor to see if the others had found anything, but she wasn't very hopeful. They had been looking for a fortnight, after all, but as they only had odd moments between lessons it wasn't surprising they'd found nothing. What they really needed was a nice long search without Madam Pince breathing down their necks.

Five minutes later, the others joined her, shaking their heads. They went off to lunch.

"You'll will keep looking while I'm away, won't you?" asked Hermione. "And send me an owl if you find anything."

"We will, Hermione," said Sophie. "I'll look through my grandmother's library."

-----------------------------------------

Hermione, Neville, and the other students going home left on Sunday. Alexis and Sophie spent some time in the library, but most of the time they were in the common room with Ron and Eric. They ate anything that they could spear on a toasting fork, and played wizard's chess, Gobstones, and Exploding Snap.

The second day of the holidays, a package arrived for Ron. He opened it to find a set of what looked like an old navy blue dress with a high collar and lace cuffs. "What is that?" he demanded, staring at it with a revolted look on his face.

Sophie picked up a slip of parchment that had fallen to the ground. Glancing at it, she said, "Er, Ron, that is your dress robe. Your mum bought it for you for the party my grandmother's giving. You know, because we have to wear formal dress robes."

"But this looks sort of like a dress!" protested Ron. "Why did Mum buy such awful robes for me? I can't wear this to the party! Your robes don't look like this, do they, Eric?"

"Well, no," admitted Eric. "They're silver and look similar to my school robes."

Ron grabbed the note out of Sophie's hand. "Stupid robes." He read the note, then groaned. "Oh great, Mum said she had to buy them second hand."

"The robes aren't that bad, Ron," said Alexis. "It's only the lace that's really the problem. We can do a Severing Charm and remove them. And I think Sophie and I can do a bit of transfiguration so your dress robes look better."

"I suppose," answered Ron, still not looking completely happy. He put the dress robes back into the box. "We can fix them later."

The next day, a package arrived for Alexis. She unwrapped the package to find a set of amethyst dress robes. It was made of a floaty, silky material with frilled sleeves and looked quite pretty. The accompanying note was from Mrs. Channing, saying that she had ordered the dress robes like Alexis had requested and hoped that she liked them.

On Christmas morning, Alexis woke up to find a pile of packages at the foot of her bed. "Merry Christmas, Alexis," said Sophie as Alexis scrambled out of bed.

Alexis replied, then pulled on her dressing gown and picked up the top parcel. It was wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawled across it was _To Alexis, from Hagrid_. Inside was a roughly-cut wooden flute. Hagrid had obviously whittled it himself. She blew into it – it sounded a bit like an owl.

A second, very small parcel contained a note. _We received your message and enclose your Christmas present. From Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia_. Sellotaped to the note was a fifty pence piece. "That's friendly," said Alexis, raising a brow.

Sophie looked at the fifty pence, fascinated. "So this is what Muggle money looks like!"

"You can keep it if you want, Sophie," said Alexis. "In addition to the present I got you." She unwrapped her next present, which turned out to be a thick, hand-knitted sweater in emerald green and a large box of homemade fudge from Mrs. Weasley.

She looked over at Sophie, who also had a jumper, only hers was sapphire blue. It looked as if Mrs. Weasley had made sweaters for Ron's friends.

Alexis continued with her unwrapping. Her next present was a box of Chocolate Frogs from Eric, followed by a box of Every Flavour Beans from Ron. Then from Neville was on the Holyhead Harpies Quidditch team. Hermione's gift was a book on Defence and Sophie's present was a notebook and luxury quill pen. Sophie had gotten her other friends the same present, and the notebooks were special. They were all linked together and were to be used as a method of communication. Whatever was written in one notebook would appear in the others for their owners to read. If only one person, or a select few, was to read what was written, the names would have to be written first. Otherwise, what was written would appear in all the notebooks.

Alexis thanked Sophie for the gift, and thought that it was very good one. Then she opened Ginny's present, which turned out to be sparkly purple nail polish and a friendship bracelet that Ginny had made herself, out of red, gold, and blue thread.

Luna's present was a painting of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack and four months subscription to _The Quibbler_. Mrs. Channing's present was the _Lord of the Rings_ trilogy and the _Arrows_ trilogy by an author named Mercedes Lackey. The accompanying card said that the books weren't exactly suited for Alexis' reading level, but they were fantasy, which she liked. Also, Alexis had read most of the Muggle books suited for her age level, so there wasn't much choice.

The next two presents were from Emma and Kyra. Emma's gift turned out to be a charm bracelet, with broom, book, owl, and wand charms. Kyra's present was the book _Redwall_ by Brian Jacques and an amethyst dangling from a silver chain.

Finally there was only one parcel left. Alexis picked it up and felt it. It was very light. He unwrapped it. Something fluid and silvery-grey went slithering to the floor, where it lay in gleaming folds. Sophie gasped.

"I know what that is!" she exclaimed, dropping the book her godmother had given her. "My godfather secretly gave me one like it when I got my Hogwarts letter."

"What is it?" asked Alexis curiously.

"It's an invisibility cloak," responded Sophie. "They're really rare, and _really_ valuable."

Alexis stared at her, then threw the cloak over her shoulders. Looking in the mirror, she saw that Sophie was right. The reflection showed only her head suspended in mid-air, her body completely invisible.

"There's a note, Alexis," Sophie said suddenly. "A note fell out of it."  
Alexis pulled off the cloak and seized the letter. Written in narrow, loopy writing she had never seen before were the following words:

_Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well. A Very Merry Christmas to you_.

There was no signature. Alexis stared at the note. Sophie took out her Invisibility Cloak from a secret panel in her trunk and compared it to Alexis's. "I think yours is better than mine, Alexis. Hey, what's the matter?"

"Nothing," answered Alexis. She felt very strange. Who had sent the cloak? Had it really once belonged to her father?

Sophie glanced at the note. "I wonder who could have sent it. Oh well, at least you have something of your father's." She put away the wrapping paper in the rubbish bin, stowed her presents, except for the sweater, away, and proceeded to get dressed.

Alexis, deep in thought, put the cloak away and got dressed, including wearing Mrs. Weasley's jumper. In the common room, Eric and Ron were there, wearing jumpers too. Eric's was red, while Ron's was maroon. Ron didn't look very happy with his jumper and said that every year his mum knitted a jumper for everyone and his was always maroon. Then he and Eric thanked Sophie and Alexis for their presents. Alexis and Sophie thanked them in turn, then Alexis told them about the Invisibility Cloak she'd gotten.

Fred and George then came down, wearing blue jumpers, one with a large yellow F on it, the other a G. Alexis suspected that Fred had on the one with the G while George had the one with the F. "Hey. Mum made Weasley jumpers for you guys, too," remarked George.

"But yours are better than ours, though," said Fred. "She obviously makes more of an effort if you're not family."

Looking at Ron's jumper, George observed, "You haven't got a letter on yours, Ron. I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid – we know we're called Gred and Forge." Alexis's suspicions were proved right.

"What's all this noise?" Percy came down the stairs, looking slightly disapproving. He carried a lumpy jumper over his arm, which Fred seized.

"P for prefect! Get it on, Percy, come on, we're all wearing ours, even Harry, Eric, and Sophie got one."

"I – don't – want –" said Percy thickly, as the twins forced the jumper over his head, knocking his glasses askew.

"And you're not sitting with the prefects today, either," added George. "Christmas is a time for family."

Alexis had never in all his life had such a Christmas dinner. A hundred fat, roast turkeys, mountains of roast and boiled potatoes, platters of fat chipolatas, tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce – and stacks of wizards crackers every few feet along the table. Alexis pulled a wizard cracker with Fred and it didn't just bang, it went off with a blast like a cannon and engulfed them all in a cloud of blue smoke. From the inside exploded a Rear-Admiral's hat and several live, white mice. Up on the High Table, Dumbledore had swapped his pointed wizard's hat for a flowered bonnet and was chuckling merrily at a joke Professor Flitwick had just read him.

Flaming Christmas puddings followed the turkey. Percy nearly broke his teeth on a silver Sickle embedded in his slice. Alexis watched Hagrid getting redder and redder in the face as he called for more wine. Finally he kissed Professor McGonagall on the cheek, who, to Alexis's amazement, giggled and blushed, her top hat lopsided.

When Alexis finally left the table, she was laden down with a stack of things out of the crackers, including a pack of non-explodable, luminous balloons, a Grow-your-own-Warts kit, and her own new wizard chess set. The white mice had disappeared and she had a nasty feeling that they were going to end up as Mrs. Norris's Christmas dinner.

Alexis, the Weasleys, Eric, and Sophie spent a happy afternoon having a furious snowball flight in the grounds. Then, cold, wet, and gasping for breath, they returned to the fire in the Gryffindor common room. There, Alexis broke in her new chess set by losing spectacularly to Ron. She suspected she wouldn't have lost so badly is Percy hadn't tried to help him so much. She then played against Sophie, and managed to win.

After a tea of turkey sandwiches, crumpets, trifle, and Christmas cake, everyone felt too full and sleepy to do much before bed except sit and watch Percy chase Fred and George all over Gryffindor tower because they'd stolen his prefect badge.

It had been Alexis's best Christmas day ever. Yet something had been nagging at the back of her mind all day. Not until she climbed into bed was she free to think about it: the invisibility cloak and whomever sent it. Sophie fell asleep quickly, but Alexis couldn't. She leaned over the side of her bed and pulled out the cloak from her trunk.

After a minute of though, she decided to use it and check out the Restricted Section in the library. Once there, she examined the books, one of which had a dark stain that looked horribly like blood. Finally she pulled out a large black and silver volume with difficulty and balancing it on her knew, let it fall open.

A piercing, blood-curdling shriek split the silence – the book was screaming. Alexis snapped it shut, but the shriek went on and on, one high, unbroken, ear-splitting note. She stumbled backwards and knocked over her lamp, which went out once. Panicking, she heard footsteps coming down from the corridor outside – stuffing the shrieking book back on the shelf, she ran for it. She passed Filch almost in the doorway; Filch's pale, wild eyes looked straight through her and Alexis slipped under his outstretched arm and streaked off up the corridor, the book's shrieks still ringing in her ears.

She came to a sudden halt in front of a tall suit of armour. She had so busy getting away from the library, she hadn't paid attention to where she was going. To her horror, she heard Filch and Snape talking, and they their voices were getting nearer. The cloak might make her invisible, but it didn't stop her being solid. They could easily knock into her.

She backed away as quietly as she could. A door stood ajar to her left, it was her only hope. She squeezed through it, holding her breath, trying not to move it, and her relief she managed to get inside the room without their noticing anything. They walked straight past and Alexis leaned against the wall, breathing deeply. It had been very close.

After a few seconds, she took a good look around the room. It looked like a disused classroom. The dark shapes of desks and chairs were piled against the walls and there was an unturned waste-paper basket – but propped against the wall facing her was something that didn't look as if it belonged there, something that looked as if someone had just put it there to keep it out of the way. It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed teeth. There was an inscription carved around the top: _Erised stra ehru oyt ubr cafru oyt on wohsi_.

Alexis puzzled over the inscription. It did not seem to be a foreign language like French or Italian. Then she noticed that 'erised' spelled backwards was the word 'desire'. She quickly reversed the inscription and figured out that it read, "I show not your face but your heart's desire."

Curious, she stepped forward to look in the mirror. She had to clap her hands to his mouth to stop herself from screaming. She whirled around, heart pounding furiously. In the mirror, she had seen not only herself, but a whole crowd of people behind her. However, the room was empty. Breathing very fast, she turned slowly back to the mirror. There she was, reflected in it, white and scared looking, and there, reflected behind him, were at least ten others. She looked over her shoulder – but still, no one was there. Or where they invisible too? Was she in a room full of invisible people and this mirror's trick was that it reflected them, invisible or not?

She looked in the mirror again. A woman standing right behind her reflection was smiling at her and waving. Alexis reached out to touch her, their reflections were so close together, but she felt only air – the woman and the others existed only in the mirror. The woman was very pretty, with dark red hair and green eyes exactly like Alexis's.

A tall, thin, black-haired man standing next to her put his arm around her. He wore glasses, his hair was untidy, and his nose looked like Alexis's. They looked exactly like the couple in her dreams and Alexis knew that they had to be her parents. She looked at the other people in the mirror and figured out that they had be other family members. She was looking at her family, for the first time in her life.

She stared at the people reflected in the mirror until a distant noise brought her back to her senses. Alexis whispered, "I'll come back," and hurried from the room.

The next day, Alexis decided not to mention what had happened until the party. That way she could tell Hermione and Neville and not have to tell the whole thing twice. At four o'clock, Alexis showered, then donned her new dress robes. She brushed out her ebony curls and tied a violet ribbon in her hair. Then she put on the necklace and bracelet Kyra and Emma had given her. Finally she applied the nail polish Ginny had given her on her nails and borrowed some of Sophie's pale blue eyeshadow and pink lip gloss.

Sophie wore rose pink robes, and her golden hair was done up in a knot. She had on lip gloss and sparkly pink polish, but no eyeshadow or any other cosmetics, because her grandmother didn't really approve. Her jewellery was a gold bracelet, pink pearl earrings, and a pearl necklace. She looked quite pretty.

In the common room, Ron and Eric were waiting. Ron had done a Severing Charm, removing the lace, though he hadn't done a very good job. The ends had ended up being frayed. Alexis and Sophie then did some transfiguration, making the frayed ends neat again and the robe looking newer and less like a dress. He now looked quite presentable.

Eric wore dark silver robes that looked more presentable than Ron's. Eric looked a but uncomfortable with the formal wear, however, and kept tugging at the collar.

At five forty, the four left for McGonagall's office. Their Head of House wore dress robes of red tartan. She looked over the four's appearance, and nodded approvingly. Then she went over travelling by Floo for Alexis, who had never travelled that way before. After, they all left.

Alexis tumbled out the fireplace several seconds after Sophie. Her glasses had been knocked askew, and there was soot on her robes. She brushed off the soot, straightened her glasses, and privately thought that Floo was not her favourite method of travel.

Mrs. Kent, a stately old woman in her seventies, with silver hair braided and arranged in a crown and wearing pale blue dress robes, greeted them. Then she had her house-elf, Tribby, show the four preteens to the drawing room where the children were gathering.

Hermione was already there, along with Daphne Greengrass, Susan Bones, Ernie Macmillan, and the Patil twins. Hermione greeted her friends enthusiastically and thanked them for their presents to her. She wore dress robes of pale pink, and her normally bushy hair had been done in a knot.

A couple of minutes later, Neville, Tracey Davis, a boy Alexis knew was Seeker on the Hufflepuff team, two more older students, and a younger girl, came in. Neville headed straight for his friends, wearing robes of forest green and looking quite nice. He greeted them and thanked them for the presents. Alexis then told Hermione and Neville about the invisibility cloak she'd gotten and them and her other friends about finding the Mirror of Erised. Hermione was horrified that Alexis had been out of bed after curfew, but very interested in the mirror. She wondered what her heart's desire would be.

The six of them discussed the mirror until Luna Lovegood turned up. Alexis spotted Luna first and was quite eager to meet her pen friend in person.

Luna wore spangled silver dress robes with a silver locket on chain. Her earrings, however, appeared to be made of radishes, and clashed with her outfit. Ron gaped at her, Hermione raised a brow, and Eric shook his head. Sophie and Neville were the only ones who didn't show any reaction. The Lovegoods had come to the party every year, and Luna had come ever since she was six. Sophie and Neville had met Luna before, and by now were used to her oddness.

Alexis greeted Luna cordially and introduced Hermione, Ron, and Eric to her. Then Alexis and Luna chatted a bit. Then Sophie took her friends on a tour of the house, or rather, mansion. It was very large with three floors, an attic, and a basement. Sophie's bedroom was as large as the dorm room. Everything was in pale pink and blue and extremely fancy. Next to the room was a large bath and her old nursery. The nursery was all in pink, with picture books in a bookcase, a toy chest of stuffed animals, a shelf with four large dolls, ten small trunks filled with dolls' clothes, a large and very beautiful doll's mansion, and a toy broomstick. There was also a desk and chair, a shelf with two doll's tea sets, one patterned with pink roses, the other blue, and a shelf of textbooks.

The other rooms were ornately and expensively furnished also, and it was quite obvious that the Kent family was very wealthy.

At seven thirty, the children and teens were escorted by Tribby to a dining room. One long table was set out with gold plates and goblets and silver utensils. Platters of food were laid out, and at each place was a card with a name written on it. Alexis found her seat between Sophie and Neville.

The utensils at each place weren't very many, so Alexis didn't have to worry which fork was the salad fork and which was the fish fork or which spoon was the soup spoon. Either Mrs. Kent didn't expect young people to know about the rules of etiquette in dining, or she wasn't the sort to make eating complicated.

After dinner, Mrs. Kent came over and spoke for a few minutes with Alexis and her friends. Mrs. Kent was very gracious, if a bit stately and overbearing, and appeared to approve of Sophie's friends. "It's lovely that you are friends of my granddaughter. Mr. Carrow, I am pleased that you aren't turning out like the rest of the family and wish to be on the Light side. Mr. Weasley, your family may not be respected, but I certainly think highly of you and your family members. You are much better wizards than families like the Malfoys. Miss Potter, you are a very charming lady, and I believe you are living up to your parents and fame. As for you, Miss Granger, you will no doubt turn out to be a highly competent and successful witch. Sophia says you are the top student in the year. Being Muggleborn does not matter to me. I almost married a Muggleborn once."

Alexis and the others thanked Mrs. Kent for her praise and for inviting them. The stately old witch smiled, and said that they were welcome to visit in the summer. Then she left to attend to her adult guests.

"I'm glad Grandmother approves of you guys," said Sophie. "Well, besides Neville. She already approves of him, since his grandmother is her friend, and I've known him since we were five." She then led her friends back up to the nursery, where they played some games until ten o'clock. Alexis also spent a few minutes holding Sophie's dolls and dressing them, for she had never had toys before or a chance to play with dolls. However, she didn't spend too much time, for she was eleven and too old to really play with dolls.

At ten, the children and teens had to leave, while their parents and other adults could stay until eleven. Back at Hogwarts, Alexis changed into her nightgown and went to bed. She considered using the cloak again, but she was simply too tired from the party. Soon she was asleep.


	13. Discovering Nicolas Flamel

The next day, Ron and Eric expressed interest in looking in the mirror. So that night, the two of them and Alexis squeezed under the cloak. It was a good thing Alexis was petite and Eric wasn't nearly as tall as Ron, or they might not have been completely covered. It took awhile, but Alexis eventually found the room. They entered and Alexis headed straight for the mirror. Her parents were there and beamed at the sight of her.

After a minute, she stepped aside and let Ron look. He reported that he saw himself, looking older, wearing the Head Boy badge, holding the house cup and Quidditch cup. He also happened to be Quidditch captain.

Eric then looked in the mirror. He was very quiet. Finally he said, "My grandparents are gone, so is my father, and I'm with my friends and a family of my own, where nobody cares that my father was a Death Eater. I'm very happy."

Ron looked down at the floor. Alexis turned red. She hadn't realized that Eric's heart's desire would be that. He was normally so cheerful and a good friend. She never guessed that he wished to be away from his family and have a life of his own with his friends, and not worry about people being suspicious of him because of his father.

Eric moved away from the mirror and sat down. "Do you know about Sirius Black?" he asked. "The Black family is into the Dark Arts, and most of them have been in Slytherin. However, Sirius Black was in Gryffindor, and I believe he was a friend of your father's, Alexis. However, he was arrested the day after You-Know-Who's downfall, supposedly for being a Death Eater and revealing where your parents lived to You-Know-Who's downfall. He allegedly blasted twelve Muggles and a wizard named Peter Pettigrew before he was captured. However, my grandfather has said that the Ministry made a mistake. He knows from my father that Sirius Black was never a Death Eater."

"Just why are you telling us this, Eric?" asked Ron.

"Because he's a Black, the Ministry was ready to believe that he was a Death Eater," replied Eric. "Maybe he was really responsible for the death of those Muggles, or maybe he was framed. But he wasn't a Death Eater and didn't betray the Potters' location. The Ministry was ready to believe he did anyway. What if something like that were to happen to me? I'm your friend, but I'm also a Carrow. If something happened to one of you guys, and it was made to look like I was responsible, what do you think what would happen?"

"But we know you're not like your family!" protested Alexis. "You're in Gryffindor, not Slytherin. You're friends with Hermione, a Muggleborn, me, a halfblood, and Ron, who is considered a blood traitor. If something happened to one of us, the rest would make sure that everyone knew that you aren't responsible. We'd cast a Truth Spell to-"

"There is no such spell as the Truth Spell, Alexis," interrupted Ron. "To make sure someone is telling the truth, they have to take a Truth Potion."

"Whatever. Anyway, Eric, we'd prove that you were innocent with a Truth Potion."

"Yeah," seconded Ron. "We're your friends, and we know you would never do anything intentionally to hurt us in any way."

"Thanks, Alexis and Ron," said Eric quietly. He turned his face, looking embarrassed, probably by the display of his feelings.

"It's nothing," said Alexis. "Come on, let's go to bed."

The next day, Alexis decided not to go to looking at the Mirror of Erised again. For the rest of the Christmas holidays, the invisibility cloak stayed folded at the bottom of her trunk. She spent her days hanging out with Ron and Eric and reading the books she had received for Christmas, starting with the one Neville had given her.

When she finished with that one, she started the trilogy by Mercedes Lackey. She immediately identified with the main character, a thirteen-year old girl named Talia. Talia was brought up in a conservative community where girls were expected to be nothing more than wives and homemakers. As men were fewer than women, but all women were expected to marry unless they entered service to the Goddess, husbands had more than one wives, like in ancient China. Talia happened to be one of the few that was different, She hated her life, and her only escape was reading. Her dream was be come a Herald, people in white who served the monarch of Valdemar and went about on circuit to uphold the law and help people. However, it didn't seem likely that her dream would come true.

As Talia was thirteen, her father's Firstwife and the Underwives informed her that she was to be married. Not wanting marriage, as most Holderkin men were cruel, and not desiring to serve the Goddess either, Talia burst out that she wanted to be Herald, and then ran out the house.

While in her hiding place, a Companion named Rolan appeared. Companions were white with blue eyes and looked like beautiful horses, only faster and as intelligent as humans, with the ability to speak telepathically. They were the ones that Chose people to become Heralds, though Talia didn't realize that it first and though Rolan was a lost Companion. She took Rolan to the capital, Haven, where at the Heralds' Collegium, on the palace grounds, things were finally explained to her. Talia was now a Herald Trainee, and also the Queen's Own Herald, the second most important Herald in Valdemar, the first being the monarch. (All monarchs had to be Heralds.)

Alexis fell in love with the book at once. Like Talia, she hadn't been appreciated by her family, and suffered, with the only escape being books. Then she had suddenly found herself in a new world where she was famous, which was similar to Talia discovering that she had been Chosen to become a very important Herald.

The rest of the book dealt with Talia's time as a Trainee. It was very interesting. Talia made friends, and slowly learned to come out of her shell and trust people. Alexis had adjusted much faster, but she reminded herself that her family life was different from Talia's. She had never been brought up to think women were second-class citizens, and there were several nice people in her life, namely her teachers and Mrs. Channing. Her relatives had never abused her to the extent Talia's relatives did. Sure, Dudley had bullied her, but he had never gone beyond some punches and kicks. He had certainly never burned her hand or anything similar, like Talia's half-brother did.

Alexis put _Arrows of the Queen_ away with a sigh when she finished it and began the next book, _Arrow's Flight_. That dealt with Talia attaining her Whites, or becoming a full Herald, and going out on her internship circuit with another Herald, Kris, as her mentor.

Halfway through the fifth chapter, Ron interrupted her. "Alexis, will you put that book down and play chess with me?"

"No thank you, Ron," responded Alexis, not looking up. "This book is interesting, and I want to find out what happens."

"You're becoming as much a bookworm as Hermione," complained Ron.

"For your information, Ronald, I have been reading since the age of six," snapped Alexis. "I enjoy reading, because books are entertaining and it was my only form of escape."

Eric, who had asked Alexis if he could borrow _Arrows of the Queen_ to read, looked up from reading it and said, "Ron, you should do some more reading. There are interesting books out there, you know. And this Muggle book is very good."

Ron sighed. "I was never much of a reader, okay? I don't read much for pleasure."

"Well, not everyone had a loving family like yours," retorted Eric. "My grandparents weren't nice, so I read and plotted pranks to play on them to forget about my life for awhile. Alexis read to escape the way her relatives treated her, and Sophie read because her grandmother was too strict and expected her to be ladylike."

Ron turned scarlet. "Sorry. But I do want to play chess or something with someone."

"Play with one of your brothers," suggested Alexis. "Or read this." She tossed _Redwall_ to him. "This is appropriate for our age level, and Kyra says it's a good book."

Ron sighed and decided to join his friends in reading.

Hermione, Neville, and Sophie returned the day before term started. Sophie had on a brand new cloak and muff made of faux fur and new robes and a slightly grumpy expression on her face. "My grandmother insisted on providing me with an entire new winter wardrobe. Which is nice, but I really don't need a muff or twenty everyday robes and fifteen dress robes. The only things she gave me that I liked were some jewellery that belonged to my mother. My godfather got me a new broom, though."

The search for Nicolas Flamel continued, but the six had almost given up hope of finding Flamel in a library book. Neville had visited Sophie during the holidays, and they had combed the books in Mrs. Kent's library, but hadn't found anything on Flamel. Alexis had written to Ginny and Luna about the search. Ginny had asked her parents and Luna her father about Nicolas Flamel. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley couldn't answer. Mr. Lovegood had said that Flamel was someone famous and old before he got sidetracked and rambled on about some new creature he planned to feature in an article in _The Quibbler_.

They were back to skimming through books for ten minutes during their breaks. Alexis had even less time than her friends, because Quidditch practices had started again.

Wood was working the team harder than ever. Even the endless rain that had replaced the snow couldn't dampen his spirits. Fred and George complained that Wood was a becoming a fanatic, but Alexis could sympathise with Wood. If they won their next match, against Hufflepuff, they would overtake Slytherin in the house championship for the first time in seven years. Quite apart from wanting to win, Alexis found that she had fewer dreams of her parents' deaths when she was tired out after training.

Then, during one particularly wet and muddy practice session, Wood gave the team a bit of bad news. Snape was going to be refereeing the match. Alexis groaned and after practice, headed straight back to the Gryffindor common room to tell her friends. Neville wasn't there, having gone to the library. The other four were there and very concerned when they heard about Snape refereeing.

"Don't play," said Sophie at once.

"Say you're ill," said Eric.

"Pretend to break your leg," suggested Hermione.

"_Really_ break your leg," said Ron. Hermione and Sophie gave him withering looks.

"I can't," said Alexis. "There's no reserve Seeker. If I back out, Gryffindor can't play."

At that moment, Neville toppled into the common room. How he had managed to climb through the portrait hole was anyone's guess, because his legs had been stuck together with what they recognised at once as the Leg-Locker Curse. He must have had to bunny hop all the way up to Gryffindor.

The other Gryffindors fell about laughing, except for Alexis and her friends. (Though Ron and Eric had to work hard to keep straight faces.) Sophie leapt to her feet and performed the counter-curse. Neville's legs sprang apart and he got to his feet, trembling.

"What happened?" Sophie asked him, leading him over to sit with Eric and Ron.

"Malfoy," said Neville shakily. "I met him outside the library. He said he had been looking for someone to practise that on."

"Go to Professor McGonagall!" Hermione urged Neville. "Report him!"

Neville shook his head. "I don't want to more trouble," he mumbled.

"You've got to stand up to him, Neville!" said Ron. "He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier."

"There's no need to tell me that I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that," Neville choked.

Alexis felt in the pocket of her robes and pulled out a Chocolate Frog, the very last one from the box Eric had given her for Christmas. She gave it to Neville, who looked as though he might cry. "You are worth twelve of Malfoy," she said fiercely. "The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stupid Slytherin."

"And you are a great friend," added Sophie. "I know the troll scared you to death, but you were brave and threw that tile at it, remember? And then you helped Stun it."

"Yeah," said Eric. "Because of that, we were able to rescue Hermione."

"See?" asked Hermione. "You are brave enough to be in Gryffindor."

"And remember when Malfoy showed up on the Hogwarts Express?" asked Ron. "Malfoy asked Alexis to be friends with him. She refused, saying she wanted to be friends with you, Hermione, and me. And she got mad at his insulting us."

Neville's lips twitched in a smile as he unwrapped the frog. "Thanks, guys. I don't deserve having friends like you." He took a bite of the chocolate frog.

"Nonsense," said Hermione briskly. "You are a good person and we love you very much. As a friend, that is. We would never desert you."

"Not unless you became a Death Eater, Neville" said Ron jokingly. "Which would never happen until the day pigs flew without the benefit of a Levitation Charm. So you don't have to worry. We faced a troll together and we are remaining best friends."

Neville cheered up even more and looked down at the Famous Wizard card. "It's Dumbledore." He flipped it over and glanced at the back. Then he gasped. "_I've found him!_" he exclaimed in a whisper. "I've found Flamel! No wonder we thought we'd read the name before somewhere. Listen to this: 'Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for his discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, _and his work on alchemy with his partner Nicolas Flamel_'!"

Hermione jumped to her feet. She hadn't looked so excited since they'd got back the marks for their very first piece of homework. "Stay here!" she ordered, and she sprinted up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. The others barely had time to exchange mystified looks before she was dashing back, an enormous old book in her arms.

"I never thought to look in here!" she whispered excitedly. "I got this out the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

"_Light?_" asked Ron, but Hermione told him to be quiet until she'd looked something up and started flicking frantically through the pages, muttering to herself. At last she found what she was looking for. "I knew it! I _knew_ it!"

"Are we allowed to speak yet?" Ron asked grumpily. Hermione ignored him.

"Nicolas Flamel," she said dramatically, "is the _only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone_!" This didn't have quite the effect she'd expected.

"The what?" asked Ron, Eric, and Neville at the same time. Alexis looked confused, while Sophie was thoughtful.

"Wait a minute," said Sophie. "Isn't that what alchemists wanted to create, but failed?"

"Yes," answered Hermione. She pushed the book over to the others and they read:

The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.

There have been many reports of the Philosopher's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera-lover. Mr. Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight).

"See?" asked Hermione, when they had finished. "The dog must be guarding Flamel's Philosopher's Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it. That's why he wanted the Stone was moved out of Gringotts."

"A stone that makes gold and stops ever dying!" exclaimed Alexis. "No wonder Snape or Quirrell is after it. _Anyone_ would want it."

"And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that _study of Recent Developments in Wizardry_," said Ron. "He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?" The others turned and gave him Looks.

The next morning, in Defence Against Dark Arts, Alexis looked at the notebook Sophie had given her and saw that Ron had written that if he had a Philosopher's Stone, he'd buy his own Quidditch team. She was suddenly reminded about Snape and the coming match. She quickly wrote, "_Guys, I'm going to play in the match. If I don't, all the Slytherins will think I'm too scared to face Snape. I'll show them … it'll really wipe the smiles off their faces if we win_." A minute later, there was a reply in Sophie's handwriting.

"_Just so long as we're not going to be wiping you off the pitch, Alexis._"

As the match drew nearer, however, Alexis became more and more nervous, whatever she told her friends. The rest of the team weren't too calm, either, The idea of overtaking Slytherin was wonderful, no one had done it for nearly seven years, but would they be allowed to, with such a biased referee?

Alexis didn't know whether she was imagining it or not, but she seemed to keep running into Snape wherever she went. At times, she even wondered whether Snape was following her, trying to catch her on her own. Potions lessons were starting to turn into a sort of weekly torture, Snape was so horrible to Alexis. He had taken to inventing excuses to sneer at her, since she always produced perfect potions and behaved. Could Snape possibly know they'd found out about the Philosopher's Stone? Alexis didn't see how he could, yet she sometimes had the horrible feeling that Snape could read minds.

----------------------------------------------------

The day before the match, the six were in were in the private room behind Lady Felicity's portrait, doing homework. Eric got up to stow some parchment in the cupboard so they wouldn't have to bring so much with them. However, when he opened the door, he froze. Something came out.

The others stopped what they were doing as whatever it was transformed to Eric in a black robe and Hermione. The figure of Eric then tied a mask around his face and snarled, "You filthy little Mudblood! I hate you! I was never your friend! I only pretended to be!" Then he whipped out his wand a jet of green light shot out of it. The figure of Hermione fell down, dead. The real Eric stared, terrified, at the figures.

The others got up as the figures changed. Now the figure of Eric was huddled in a corner, while a masked and robed figure killed a figure of Hermione. Then the masked and robed person disappeared and the figures of Alexis, Ron, Neville, and Sophie appeared, angry looks on their faces. "You killed Hermione!" they shouted angrily.

The figure of Eric protested, "It wasn't me! A Death Eater did it! I couldn't stop him!"

"We don't believe you!" shouted the figure of Alexis. "You were the only person here!"

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted a Carrow," said the figure of Sophie.

"Yeah," said the figure of Ron. "You're just like your Death Eater father."

"I thought you were our friend," said the Neville-figure. "You tricked us!"

The real Eric collapsed on the ground and burst into tears. The real Hermione led Eric aside while Sophie pulled out her wand and stood where he had been. The scene changed to a hairy beast of some sort who howled. "_Riddikulus_!" Sophie said firmly. The hairy beast changed to a dog with a clown nose and very funny costume. Sophie forced laugh, causing the dog to disappear with a crack.

"That was a boggart," she said. "They're a Dark being that likes to hide in dark places like cupboards and such. They take the form of your worst fear and can only be destroyed by laughter. You have to think of something funny to transform your worst fear into and say 'Riddikulus' to deal with it. A boggart somehow got into the cupboard."

"So that was Eric's worst fear?" asked Neville nervously. "That's terrible."

Eric, still crying, nodded. "I have two worst fears," he got out between sobs. "Turning into a Death Eater like my father and being framed for the death of a friend and having the rest of my friends turn on me."

"Eric, we know you would never become a Death Eater," said Alexis. "The day it happens is the day pigs sprout wings and fly, which is never. You don't have to worry."

"And we would never turn on you and desert you," said Hermione. "Eric, we know you really are our friend and not pretending to be. If you were framed for murder or something, we would work hard to prove your innocence. All right?"

"We will always be your friends, unless you betrayed us, and we know you would never do that," said Sophie. "So stop being silly."

"You're a terrific friend," said Neville. "Nothing bad will happen."

"Yeah, cheer up, Eric," said Ron. "It was only a boggart, and your worst fears aren't going to come true."

Eric managed a smile. "Thanks, guys." He wiped his eyes, looking embarrassed. "I don't know what came over me. You five are the greatest friends ever."

The others each gave him a hug, and after a few minutes, they went back to doing their homework.

---------------------------------

Alexis knew, when they wished her good luck outside the changing rooms next afternoon, that her friends were wondering whether they'd see her alive again. This wasn't exactly what you'd call comforting. She hardly a word of Wood's pep talk as she pulled on her Quidditch robes and picked up her Nimbus Two Thousand.

Her friends sat in the stands, looking grim and worried. They had brought their wands with them and were planning to do the Leg Locker Curse if either Snape or Quirrell showed signs of wanting to hurt Alexis.

Back in the changing room, Wood took Alexis aside. "Don't want to pressure you, Alexis, but if we ever need an early capture o the Snitch it's now. Finish the game before Snape can favour Hufflepuff too much."

"The whole school's out there!" said Fred, peering out the door. "Even – blimey – Dumbledore's come to watch!"

Alexis's heart did a somersault. "_Dumbledore_?" she demanded, dashing to the door to make sure. Fred was right. There was no mistaking that silver beard. She could have laughed out loud with relief. There was no way that either Snape or Quirrell would dare try to hurt her if Dumbledore was watching.

Perhaps that was why Snape was looking so angry as the teams marched on to the pitch, something that Ron noticed, too.

"I've never seen Snape look so mean," he told his friends. "Look – they're off. Ouch!"

Someone had poked Ron in the back of the head. It was Malfoy. "Oh, sorry, Weasley, didn't see you there." He grinned broadly at Crabbe and Goyle.

"Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on her broom this time? Anyone want a bet? What about you, Weasley?" Ron didn't answer; Snape had just awarded Hufflepuff a penalty because George had hit a Bludger at him. Hermione, who had all her fingers crossed in her lap, was squinting fixedly at Alexis, who was circling the game like a hawk, searching for the Snitch. Sophie was biting her nails in nervousness.

"You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?" asked Malfoy loudly a few minutes later, as Snape awarded Hufflepuff another penalty for no reason at all. "It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasleys, who've got money – you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains." Neville turned scarlet but turned in his seat to face Malfoy.

"I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy!" he stammered

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle howled with laughter, but Eric turned around and snapped, "Malfoy, maybe you could be on the team, you've got no manners at all! And your goons, Crabbe and Goyle, are the ones with no brains!"

Malfoy glared angrily at Eric, then turned to Neville and said, "If brains were gold, you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something."

Ron turned. "I'm warning you, Malfoy – one more word –."

"Ron! Neville!" exclaimed Hermione suddenly. "Alexis –!"

"What? Where?" Alexis had suddenly gone into a spectacular dive, which drew gasps and cheers from the crowd. Hermione and Sophie stood up, fingers in their mouths, as Alexis streaked toward the ground like a bullet.

"You're in luck, Weasley, Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground!" said Malfoy. Ron snapped. Before Malfoy knew what was happening, Ron was on top of him, wrestling him to the ground. Neville and Eric hesitated, then clambered over the backs of their seats to help.

"Come on, Alexis!" Hermione screamed, leaping on to her seat to watch as Alexis sped straight at Snape, she didn't even notice Malfoy and Ron rolling around under her seat, or the scuffles and yelps that were coming from the whirl of fists that were Neville, Eric, Crabbe, and Goyle.

Up in the air, Snape turned on his broomstick just in time to see something scarlet shoot past him, missing him by inches – next second, Alexis had pulled out of the dive, her arm raised in triumph, the Snitch clasped in her hand.

The stands erupted; it had to be a record, no one could ever remember the Snitch being caught so quickly.

"Guys, where are you? The game's over! Alexis's won! We won! Gryffindor are in the lead!" shrieked Hermione, dancing up and down on her seat and hugging Sophie.

Alexis jumped off her broom, a foot from the ground. She couldn't believe it. She'd done it – the game was over; it had barely lasted five minutes. As the Gryffindors came spilling on to the pitch, she saw Snape land nearby, white-faced and tight-lipped. He glared at her, then spat bitterly on the ground.

Alexis left the changing room alone some time later, to take her Nimbus Two Thousand back to the broomshed. She couldn't ever remember feeling happier. She'd really done something to be proud of now – no one could say she was just a famous name any more. The evening air had never smelled so sweet. She walked over the damp grass, reliving the last hour in her head, which was a happy blur. One of the images had been Kyra kissing Oliver Wood on the mouth for several seconds, prompting laughter and teasing from Fred and George. Alexis had been torn between disgust and amusement.

She had reached the shed. She leaned against the wooden door and looked up at Hogwarts, with its windows glowing red in the setting sun. Gryffindor was in the lead. She'd done it, she'd shown Snape … And speaking of Snape …

A hooded figure came swiftly down the front steps of the castle. Clearly not wanting to be seen, it walked as fast as possible towards the forbidden forest. Alexis's victory faded from her mind as she watched. She recognised the figure's prowling walk. Snape was sneaking into the forest while everyone else was at dinner – what was going on?

Alexis jumped back on her Nimbus Two Thousand and took off. Gliding silently over the castle, she saw Snape enter the forest at a run. She followed.

The trees were so thick that she couldn't see where Snape had gone. She flew in circles, lower and lower, until she heard voices. She glided towards them and landed noiselessly in a towering beech tree. She climbed carefully along the branches, holding tight to her broomstick, trying to see through the leaves.

Below, in a shadowing clearing, stood Snape, but he wasn't alone, Quirrell was there, too. Alexis couldn't make out the look on his face, but he was stuttering worse than ever. Alexis strained to catch what they were saying.

She didn't hear quite everything, but what she heard was enough. The two teachers were talking about the Philosopher's Stone, and it sounded as if Snape was after it and was pressuring Quirrell to help. Snape asked if Quirrell if he'd found out how to get past that 'beast of Hagrid's yet', and something about his 'little bit of hocus pocus.' After, Snape threw his cloak over his head and strode out the clearing. It was almost dark, but Alexis could see Quirrell, standing quite still as though he was petrified.

When Alexis was back in the castle, her friends met her and congratulated her on the win, telling her about the party in the common room. She interrupted them and told about what she'd overheard in the room behind Lady Felicity's portrait.

"So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands us to Snape?" inquired Hermione in alarm.

"It'll be gone by next Tuesday," predicted Ron dismally.


	14. Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback

Author's Note: In chapter 12, Hermione asked Professor McGonagall about Nicolas Flamel due to a dream I had. In it, I was Hermione, and I asked McGonagall a question that I knew would annoy the teacher, but I did so anyway because Harry and Ron wanted to know the answer and it would help them. I can't recall what question what I asked in the dream. The dream stuck in my mind, I decided to include it in this fic.

Quirrell, however, must have been braver than they'd though. In the weeks that followed he did seem to be getting paler and thinner, but it didn't look as though he'd cracked yet. Every time they passes the third-floor corridor, Alexis and her friends would press their ears to the door to check that fluffy was still growling inside. Snape was sweeping around in his usual bad temper, which surely meant that the Stone was still safe.

Whenever Alexis passed Quirrell these days she gave him an encouraging sort of smile, and Ron started telling people off for laughing at Quirrell's stutter.

Hermione, however, had more on her mind than the Philosopher's Stone. She had started drawing up revision timetables and colour-coding all her notes. Sophie had done the same, having decided that she wanted to come out top of the class in the end-of-year exams. Friendly competition had sprung up between Sophie and Hermione as a result.

Alexis didn't really care for all the fuss, but did sort her notes and put more work in revising. She did want to do well on the exams, though she knew that she would never be top of the class. She was smart, and did do well in classes, but she was not at the same level as Hermione and Sophie. Though that didn't mean she wasn't among the top five in their year.

Neville, feeling some panic, had started doing what Hermione and Sophie were doing. Ron and Eric didn't, and found Hermione's nagging for them to do what she was doing annoying. Eric didn't put in so much effort in revising and schoolwork, but he managed to be among the top five. Ron's marks were a bit worse, but he knew that he was going to pass, so he didn't bother too much with revising.

"Hermione, the exams are ages away," said Ron one afternoon.

"Ten weeks," Hermione snapped. "That's not ages, that's like a second to Nicolas Flamel."

"But we're not six hundred years old," Ron reminded her. "Anyway, what are you revising for, you already know it all."

"What am I revising for? Are you mad? You realise we need to pass these exams to get into second year? they're very improtant, I should have started studying a month ago, I don't know what's got into me ..."

Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Hermione. They piled so much homework on them that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones. It was hard to relax with Hermione next to you reciting the twelve uses of dragon's blood or practicing wand movements. Not that Alexis relaxed much, because she spent most of her free time studying. The only other thing she did during her free time was read _Redwall_ as way to relax from all the work.

After some grumbling, Ron and Eric joined Neville and girls in the library, looking through books abd revising, or practicing the spells they had learned in the secret room.

"I'll never remember this," Ron burst out one afternoon, throwing down his quill and looking longingly out of the library window. It was the first really fine day they'd had in months. The sky was clear, forget-me-not blue and there was a feeling in the air of summer coming.

Aleixs, whom was looking up 'Dittany' in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, didn't look up until she heard Eric say, "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"

Hagid shuffled into view, hiding something behind his back. He looked very out of place in his moleskin overcoat.

"Jus' lookin'," he said, in a shifty voice that got their interest at once. "An' what're you lot up ter?" He looked suddenly suspicious. "Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Oh, we found out who he is ages ago," said Ron impressively. "And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Philosopher's St-"

"Shhhh!" Hagrid looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," said Alexis, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy -"

"SHHHH!" said Hagrid again. "Listen - come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've old yeh -"

"See you later, then," said Alexis. Hagrid shuffled off.

"What was he hiding behind his back?" said Hermione thoughtfully. "Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?"

"I'm going to see what section he was in," said Ron, who'd had enough of working.

He came back a minute later with a pile of books in his arms and slammed them down on the table.  
"Dragons!" he whispered. "Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these: _Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide_."

"I've heard that Hagrid always wanted a dragon," said Alexis, a horrible thought coming into mind.

"But it's against our laws," said Ron. "Dragon-breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that. It's hard to stop Muggles noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden - anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."

"But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?" said Hermione, frowning.

"Of course there are," said Ron. "Common Welsh Green and Hedridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our lot have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget."

"So what on earth's Hagrid up to?" asked Hermione.

"He probably got hold of a dragon egg," Eric said jokingly.

"This is no joking matter, Eric Amycus Carrow!" snapped Alexis. "I would be willing to bet my broom and the contents in my Gringott's vault that Hagrid really has somehow gotten hold of a dragon's egg and is planning to raise it!"

Sophie stared at Alexis, her quill falling out of her hand and onto the floor. "You can't be serious! Oh no, seeing that it's Hagrid, you're probably right." She began twisting the ruby ring that she wore on her left ring finger. Neville glanced at her and turned crimson.

An hour later, the six went down to see Hagrid. The door was shut, and the curatins were drawn closed. When Alexis knocked, Hagrid asked, "Who's there?" before he opened the door and let them inside. The room was stifling hot, with a blazing fire in the fireplace. This did not look good and Alexis groaned.

Hagrid made them tea and offered them stoat sandwiches, which they refused. "So - yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?"  
"Yes," replied Alexis. There was no point in beating about the bush. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the philosopher's Stone apart from Fluffy."

Hagrid frowned at her. "O' course I can't," he said. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn't tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts - I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know about Fluffy."

"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on round here," said Hermione in a warm, flattering voice.

Hagrid's beard twitched and they could tell he was smiling. "We only wondered who had done the guarding, really," Hermione went on. "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you."

Hagrid's chest swelled at these last words. The others beamed at Hermione. "Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that ... let's see ... he borrowed Fluffy from me ... then some o' the teachers did enchantments ... Professor Sprout - Professor Flitwick - Professor McGonagall -" he ticked them off on his fingers. "Professor Quirrell - an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."

"Snape?" asked Eric, almost knocking over his mug of tea.

"Yeah - yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not about ter steal it."

Alexis knew her friends were thinking the same thing as she was. If Snape had been in on protecting the Stone, it must have been easy to find out how the other teachers had guarded it. He probably knew everything - except, it seemed, Quirrell's spell and how to get past Fluffy.

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" said Alexis anxiously. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"

"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," said Hagrid proudly.

"Well, that's something," Alexis muttered to the others. "Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling."

"Can't, Alexis, sorry," said Hagrid. The others noticed him glance at the fire. They looked at it too.

"Hagrid - what's that?" But Alexis already knew what it was. In the very heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg.

"Ah," said Hagrid, fiddling nervously with his beard. "That's - er ..."

"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" asked Ron, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg. "It must've cost you a fortune."

"Won it," said Hagrid. "Las' night. I was down in the villiage havin' a few drinks an' got into a game of cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."

"But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" inquired Sophie, twisting her ring again.

"Well, I've bin doin' some readin'," said Hagrid, pulling a large book from under his pillow. "Got this outta the library - _Dragon-Breeding for Pleasure and Profit_ - it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on 'em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An' see here - how ter recognise diff'rent eggs - what I got there's a Norwegian Ridegback. They're rare, them."

He looked very pleased with himself, but Hermione didn't. "Hagrid, you live in a wooden house," she said.

But Hagrid wasn't listening. He was humming merrily as he stoked the fire.

So now they had something else to worry about: what might happen to Hagrid if anyone found out he was hiding an illegal dragon in his hut.

"Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life," Ron sighed, as evening after evening they struggled though all the extra homework they were getting.

"Our life is peaceful!" snapped Sophie. "Now be quiet and let me concentrate!" Her temper had grown increasingly shorter since the extra work and finding out about the dragon egg. For very trivial reasons, she would snap at everyone except the teachers and Neville.

Then, one breakfast time, Hedwig brought Alexis another note from Hagrid. He had written only two words: _It's hatching._

Ron and Eric wanted to skip Herbology and go straight down to the hut. Hermione and Sophie wouldn't hear of it.  
"Hermione, how many times are we going to see a dragon hatching?" demanded Ron.

"We've got lessons, we'll get into trouble, and that's nothing to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing -"

"Shut up!" Alexis whispered. Malfoy was only a few feet away and he had stopped dead to listen. How much had he heard? She didn't like the look on Malfoy's face at all.

Ron, Sophie, and Hermione argued all the way down to Herbology, and in the end, Hermione and Sophie agreed to run down to Hagrid's with the others during morning break. When the bell sounded from the castle the the end of their lesson, the six of them dropped their trowels at once and hurried through the grounds to the edge of the Forest.

Hagrid greeted them looking flushed and excited. "It's nearly out." He ushered them inside.

The egg was lying on the table. There were deep cracks in it. Something was moving inside; a funny clicking noise was coming from it. They all drew their chairs up to the table and watched with bated breath.

All at once there was a scraping noise and the egg split open. Tha baby dragon flopped down on to the table. It wasn't exactly pretty; Alexis thought it looked like a crumpled, black umbrella. Its spiny wings were huge compared to its skinny jet body and it had a long snout with wide nostrils, stubs od horns and bulging, orange eyes. It sneezed. A couple of sparks flew out of its snout.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmered. Alexis raised a brow. Dragons might be beautiful, but they were dangerous. Even in fantasy books, dragons were dangerous, especially when provoked. Certainly there were intelligent dragons that associated with humans or were nice in books, but they could get riled up and attack. A real live dragon was even worse, because unlike in fantasy books, their intelligence was different from a human's, and they couldn't be counted on to be nice.

Hagrid reached out a hand to stroke the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs. "Bless him, look, he knows his mummy!" exclaimed Hagrid.

"Hagrid," said Hermione, "how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?"

Hagrid was about to answer when the colour suddenly drained from his face - he leapt to his feet and ran to the window.

"What's the matter?"

"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains - it's a kid - he's runnin' back up ter the school."  
Alexis bolted to the door and looked out. Even at a distance there was no mistaking him. Malfoy had seen the dragon.

Something about the smile lurking on Malfoy's face during the next week made Alexis and her friends very nervous. It didn't help matters when Daphne cornered them after Potions and whispered, "Watch out for Malfoy. He's been walking about with this smug look on his face. And yesterday, in the common room, he kept bragging about how he knows something that could get you guys and Hagrid in big trouble. He said he was going to hold the information over your heads."

The six spent most of their free time in Hagrid's darkened hut, trying to reason with him.

"Just let him go," Sophie urged. "Set him free."

"I can't," said Hagrid. "He's too little. He'd die."

They looked at the dragon. It had grown three times in length in just a week. Smoke kept furling out of its nostrils. Hagrid hadn't been doing his gamekeeping duties because the dragon was keeping him so busy. There were empty brandy bottles and chicken feathers all over the floor.

"I've decided to call him Norbert," said Hagrid, looking at the dragon with misty eyes. "He really knows me now, watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where's Mummy?"

"He's lost his marbles," Ron muttered in Alexis's ear.

"Hagrid," said Alexis loudly, "give it a fortnight and Norbert's going to be as long as your house. Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment."

Hagrid bit his lip. "I - I know I can't keep him for ever, but I can't jus' dump him, I can't."

Alexis suddenly turned to Ron. "Charlie," she said.

"You're losing it, too," said Ron. "I'm Ron, remember?"

"No - Charlie - your brother Charlie. in Romania. Studying dragons. We could sent Norbert to him. Charlie can take care of him and then pout him back in the wild!"

"Brilliant!" said Ron. "How about it, Hagrid?" And in the end, Hagrid agreed that they could owl to Charlie to ask him.

The following week dragged by. Wednesday night found Alexis, Hermione, and Sophie sitting alone in the common room, long after everyone else had gone to bed. Eric and Neville had gone to bed as well. Sophie was twisting the ring she was wearing again, a habit she was doing rather frequently these days. After awhile, Alexis asked, "Why do you wear that ring all the time, Sophie? I've never seen you take if off except when you shower. Oh, and that time for your grandmother's party."

"I took it off because the red ruby didn't go well with the pink robes I was wearing," replied Sophie. She blushed, for the first time Alexis had seen, and continued, "I wear the ring because, well, I'm engaged to Neville." Hermione dropped her book and she and Alexis stared at Sophie in shock.

"_Engaged_?" sputtered Hermione. "You're only eleven! How can that be?"

Sophie blushed even more and answered, "Since my grandmother and Neville's are friends, Neville and I have known each other for a long time. Sometime when we were five, Neville developed this crush on me. One day, out of the blue, he hands me this little bunch of daisies and dandelions he'd picked and says I'm pretty. After that, every time we were together, he always gave me a boquet of flowers he'd picked. Then on my sixth birthday, I decided that I was in love with Neville and wanted to marry him. I told my grandmother, who said to wait until I was older.

"A month later, about two weeks after Neville's birthday, I was visiting Neville. That was when I told him that I loved him and wanted to marry him when we grew up. He apparently didn't mind the idea and said it was fine. We kissed, and then went inside to tell our grandmothers about our engagement. They were horrified, but when I insisted that I wanted it and needed a ring, they gave in. Mrs. Longbottom gave me the ring to wear. We've been engaged ever since, though Neville and I haven't brought up the subject since our eighth birthdays. I think our grandmothers are secretly a bit pleased with it. They would love their grandchildren marrying and bringing the two familes together."

"And you haven't changed your mind at all about marrying Neville?" asked Hermione, suppressing a giggle. "I mean, you're older now, and might not want to do what your six-year old self said."

"Well, I haven't found any other boy that I would want to marry," responded Sophie. "The only other boys that I know well are Eric and Ron. Ron doesn't have enough tact, and I don't find him as sweet as Neville. As for Eric, I can only see him as a good friend. Now, let's please talk about something else. I don't want to harp over some silly thing I did when I was little."

The clock on the wall chimed midnight then and the portrait hole burst open. Ron appeared out of nowhere as he pulled off Alexis's Invisibility Cloak. He had been down to Hagrid's hut, helping him feed Norbert, who was now eating dead rats by the crate.

"It bit me!" he said, showing them his hand, which was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief. "I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week. I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me he told me off for frightening it. And when I left, he was singing it a lullaby."

There was a tap on the dark window. "It's Hedwig!" said Alexis, hurrying to let her in. "She'll have Charlie's answer!"

The three of them put their heads together to read the note.

_Dear Ron,  
How are you?_ _Thanks for the letter - I'd be glad to take the Norwegian ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some fiends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they musn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon.  
Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark.  
Send me an answer as soon as possible.  
Love,  
Charlie_

They looked at each other.  
"We've got mine and Sophie's Invisibility Cloaks," said Alexis. "It shouldn't be too difficult - I think one's big enough to cover two of us and Norbet. The other four can squeeze under the other, that is, if you all insist on going."  
It was a mark of how bad the last week had been that the other three agreed with her. Anything to get rid of Norbet - and Malfoy.

There was a hitch.

By next morning, Ron's bitten hand had swollen to twice its usual size. He didn't know whether it was safe to go to Madam Pomfrey - would she recognise a dragon bite? By the afternoon, though, he had no choice. The cut had turned a nasty shade of green. It looked as if Norbet's fangs were poisonous.  
Alexis and her friends rushed to the hospital wing at the end of the day to find Ron in a terrible state in bed.

"It's not just my hand," he whispered, "although that feels like it's about to fall off. Malfoy told Madam Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he could come and have a good laugh at me. He kept threatening to tell her what really bit me - I've told her it was a dog but I don't think she believes me - I shouldn't have hit him at the Quidditch match, that's why he's doing this."

The five tried to calm Ron down.  
"It'll all be over at midnight on Saturday," said Hermione, but this didn't soothe Ron at all.

On the contrary, he sat bolt upright and broke into a sweat. "Midnight on Saturday!" he said in a hoarse voice. "Oh no - oh no - I've just remembered - Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took, he's going to know we're getting rid of Norbet."

They didn't get a chance to answer. Madam Pomfrey came over at that moment and made them leave, saying Ron needed sleep.

"It's too late to change the plan now," Alexis told the others. "We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl and this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbet. We'll have to risk it. And we have got the Invisibility Cloak, Malfoy doesn't know about that."

They found Fang the boarhound sitting outside with a bandaged tail when they went to tell Hagrid, who opened a window to talk to them.

"I won't let you in," he puffed. "Norbet's at a tricky stage - nothin' I can't handle."

When they told him about Charlie's letter, his eyes filled with tears, although that might have been because Norbet had just bitten him on the leg. "Aargh! It's all right, he only got my boot - jus' playin' - he's only a baby, after all."

The baby banged its tail on the wall, making the windows rattle. The five walked back to the castle, feeling Saturday couldn't come quickly enough.

They would have felt sorry for Hagrid when the time came for him to say goodbye to Norbert if they hadn't been so worried about what they had to do. It was a very dark, cloudy night and they were a bit late arriving at Hagrid's hut because they had to wait for Peeves to get out of their way in the Entrance Hall, where he'd been playing tennis against that wall. Alexis, Hermione, Sophie, and Eric were there. Neville had wanted to come as well, but Sophie had advised that he not come, in case they were caught. There would be one less person to punish. Besides, Sophie's cloak was a little smaller than Alexis's, so it might not completely cover three people.

Hagrid had Norbert packed and ready in a large crate.  
"He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey," said Hagrid in a muffled voice. "An' i've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely."

From inside the crate came ripping noises that sounded to Alexis as though the teddy was having his head torn off.

"Bye-bye, Norbert!" Hagrid sobbed, as Alexis and Hermione covered the crate with the Invisibility Cloak and stepped underneath it themselves. "Mummy will never forget you!"

They set off for the castle, with Eric and Sophie helping hold the back of the crate while under their cloak. How they managed it, they couldn't tell. Midnight ticked nearer and nearer as they heaved Norbert up the marble staircase, then another - even one of Alexis's short cuts didn't make the work much easier.

"Nearly there!" Alexis's panted as they reached the corridor beneath the tallest tower.

Then a sudden movement ahead of them made them almost drop the crate. Forgetting thay they were already invisible, they shrank into the shadows, staring at the two outlines of two people grappling with each other ten feet away. A lamp flared.  
Professor McGonagall, in a tartan dressing-gown and a hairnet, had Malfoy by the ear.

"Detention!" she shouted. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you -"

"You don't understand, Professor, Alexis Potter's coming - she's got a dragon!"

"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on - I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!"

The steep spiral staircase up to the top of the tower seemed the easiest thing in the world after that. Not until they'd stepped out into the cold night air did they throw off their Cloaks, glad to be able to breathe properly again. Hermione did a sort of jig. "Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!"

"Don't," Alexis advised her.

Chuckling about Malfoy, they waited, Norbert thrashing about in his crate. About ten minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness.  
Charlie's friends were a cheery lot. They showed Alexis, Sophie, Eric, and Hermione the harness they'd rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them.

They all helped buckle Norbert safely into it and then the three shook hands with the others and thanked them very much.

At last, Norbert was going ... going ... gone.

They slipped back down the spiral staircase, their hearts as light as their hands, now that Norbet was off them. No more dragon - Malfoy in detention - what could spoil their happiness?

The answer to that was waiting for them at the foot of the stairs. As they stepped into the corridor, Filch's face loomed suddenly out of the darkness. Alexis and Hermione shrank back, forgetting that they had on the Invisibility Cloak. Sophie gasped and Eric made a strangled noise.

"Well, well, well," he whispered, "we are in trouble." Sophie and Eric had forgotten their Invisibilty Cloak at the top of the tower.

Author's Note: Since this is Alexis, not Harry, I couldn't have her forget to put on the Invisibilty Cloak. It wouldn't make sense, since Alexis is smarter than Harry is in the books. However, I wanted Gryffindor to lose some points so Dumbledore could then award a bunch at the end-of-term feast, so I had Sophie and Eric forget instead. Eric sometimes can be a bit forgetful, and with all that Sophie's going through, she got a bit confused and thought she had put on the cloak.


	15. Detention and Worries

Things couldn't have been worse. Eric groaned and Sophie looked ashamed. Alexis wanted to reveal herself, but Hermione pinched her. Also, Eric said loudly, "We are the only ones wandering around," when Filch asked if anyone else was with them.

Filch took them to Professor McGonagall's study on the first floor and Alexis and Hermione followed secretly. Eric and Sophie sat and waited without saying a word. Alexis poked Eric and Sophie and whispered, "We're here too. To see what's going to happen to you guys." The two jumped in surprise, then nodded.

Professor McGonagall appeared, a furious expression on her face. She looked more likely to breathe fire than Norbert as she towered over Sophie and Eric.

"I would never have believed it of the two of you. Mr. Filch says you were up in the astronomy tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. _Explain yourselves_."

"Professor, Sophie and I were snogging there," blurted Eric. Alexis blinked in surprise.

McGonagall raised a brow. "You two happen to be first years. I find it hard to believe that the two of you could be kissing. I think I've got a good idea of what's been going on. It doesn't take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I've already caught him. I–"

"Professor," interrupted Sophie, "that's not what happened. What really happened is that I thought I saw a new star last Astronomy class and I wanted to have another look to see if I hadn't been imagining things. I dragged Eric with me to help look."

"Oh, really?" asked McGonagall, giving her a Look. "And how could you see the stars when it's a cloudy night? The only thing you can see tonight is part of the moon."

Sophie flushed, opened her mouth, then shut it again. McGonagall continued, "I'm disgusted! Three students out of bed in one night! This is turning out like last year, when Miss Emma Channing and her friends did the same! Really, Miss Kent, I thought you had more sense. As for you, Mr. Carrow, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this. The two of you receive detentions, and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor."

"_Fifty_?" gasped Sophie and Eric at the same time – they would lose the lead, the lead Alexis had won in the last Quidditch match.

Questioning Professor McGonagall's punishment turned out to be a bad idea. "Fifty points _each_," she said, breathing heavily through her long pointed nose.

"Professor – please –," began Sophie.

"You _can't_ –!" protested Eric.

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Carrow. Twenty points from Gryffindor. Now get back to bed, the two of you. I've never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students."

One hundred and twenty points lost. That put Gryffindor in last place. In one night, they'd ruined any chance for the house cup. Sophie had burst into tears of shame upon their arrival back in the common room. Eric buried his face in his hands. Alexis and Hermione didn't say anything and patted their friends on the back. The four were thinking the same thing: how could they ever make up for this?

Alexis didn't sleep all night. Sophie kept sobbing into her pillow for what seemed like hours and Hermione sat next to her and stroked her hair. Alexis was dreading the dawn. What would happen when the rest of the Gryffindors found out what had happened?

At first, Gryffindors passing the giant hourglasses that recorded the house points next day thought there'd been a mistake. How could they suddenly have a hundred and twenty points fewer than yesterday? Then the story started to spread: Eric Carrow and Sophie Kent, a couple of 'stupid first years', had lost them all those points.

Suddenly they were the most hated people at the school. Even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff turned on them, because everyone had been longing to see Slytherin lose the house cup. Everywhere they went, people pointed and didn't bother to lower their voices as they insulted them. Slytherins, on the other hand, clapped as they walked past them, whistling and cheering, "Thanks, Kent and Carrow, we owe you one!"

Sophie received a Howler from her grandmother, shouting at her for being out after curfew and that she was a disgrace to the family for breaking rules like that. Eric also received one from his grandparents for being caught, saying that a Slytherin would never be caught for breaking rules. It ended with, "_Well, at least you enabled Slytherin to win the house cup. It looks as if you might have some disregard for Gryffindor._"

The end result of that Howler was that most of the Gryffindor and all of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff looked at Eric suspiciously. He was the son of a Death Eater, and it was possible that he really supported Slytherin but wanted it to look like he didn't. Many of the insults were along that line. Eric was very unhappy with all this, and Alexis was afraid that he'd break down and cry. He eventually did so, but in the privacy of their secret room, with his friends comforting him.

Sophie did not cry ever since the night they'd been caught. She held her head high and ignored the insults, but she did stop drawing attention to herself in class.

Kyra was the only other Gryffindor besides Fred and George to not show any anger. One afternoon in the library, she took Eric and Sophie aside and asked why they had been out-of-bounds. She insisted on the truth, promising not to reveal what they said. In the end, they told her about Hagrid and the dragon. Kyra sighed. "Why am I not surprised? Typical Hagrid. Well, I'm not mad at you anymore. I just wish you'd been more careful." After that, she began telling off the other Gryffindors for insulting Eric and Sophie.

Alexis decided that she wouldn't meddle in things that weren't her business, since she didn't want to risk being caught and made a pariah of like Sophie and Eric. She devoted her free time with revising for the exams, which were drawing nearer and nearer.

Then, about a week before the exams were due to start, Alexis's new resolution was put to an unexpected test. Walking back from the library on her own one afternoon, she heard somebody whimpering from a classroom up ahead. As she drew closer, she heard Quirrell's voice. "No – no – not again, please –"

It sounded as though someone was threatening him. Alexis moved closer.

"All right – all right –" she heard Quirrell sob.

Next second, Quirrell came hurrying out of the classroom straightening his turban. He was pale and looked as thought he was about to cry. He strode out of sight; Alexis didn't think he had even noticed her. She waited until Quirrell's footsteps had disappeared, then peered into the classroom. It was empty, but a door stood ajar at the other end. Alexis was halfway towards it before she remembered that she promised not to meddle.

All the same, she'd have gambles twelve Philosopher's Stone that Snape had just left the room, and from what Alexis had just heard, Snape would be walking with a new spring in his step – Quirrell seemed to have given in at last.

Alexis went to the secret room, where her friends were practicing spells and testing each other on different subjects. She told them what she'd heard.

"Snape's done it then!" exclaimed Neville. "If Quirrell's told him how to break his Anti-Dark Force spell –"

"There's still Fluffy, though," said Hermione.

"Maybe Snape's found out how to get past him without asking Hagrid," suggested Ron. "I bet there's a book somewhere in the library telling you how to get past a giant three-headed dog. So what do we do, Alexis?"

The light of adventure was kindling again in Ron's eyes, but Sophie answered before Alexis could. "Go to Dumbledore. That's what we should have done ages ago. If we try anything ourselves we'll be thrown out for sure."

"But we've got no _proof_!" protested Alexis. "Quirrell is too scared to back us up. Snape's only got to say he doesn't know how the troll got in at Halloween and that he was nowhere near the third floor – who do you think they'll believe, him or us? It's not exactly a secret that we hate him, Dumbledore'll think we made it up to get him sacked. Filch wouldn't help us if his life depended on it, he's too friendly with Snape, and the more students get thrown out, the better, he'll think. And don't forget, we're not supposed to know about the Stone or Fluffy, That'll take a lot of explaining."

Neville, Sophie, Hermione, and Eric looked convinced, but Ron didn't.

"If we just do a bit of poking around – "

"No," said Eric flatly. "We've done enough poking around. I don't want to cost Gryffindor any more points and have people say even more bad stuff about me." Ron shut his mouth, looking disappointed.

The next morning, notes were delivered to Sophie and Eric at the breakfast table. They were all the same:

_Your detention will tale place at eleven o'clock tonight. Meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall._

_Prof. M. McGonagall_

At eleven, the two said good-by to Alexis, Hermione, Ron, and Neville in the common room and went down to the entrance hall. The four sat to await their return. Hermione and Neville did some more revision, Alexis began rereading _Arrows of the Queen_, and Ron practiced some spells. After an hour, Ron and Neville fell asleep. Hermione put her books and notes away and began pacing about the room. Alexis continued reading, but fifteen minutes later, she fell asleep as well.

Half an hour later, she jerked awake as Eric and Sophie returned. Eric roughly shook Ron awake, who was shouting something about Quidditch fouls. Sophie woke up Neville, who was muttering, "Yes, Sophie, if you want to be married when we've grown up, we can." He blushed crimson when he opened his eyes and saw her.

Eric and Sophie told the four about their detention with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest. Malfoy had been doing his detention as well. Apparently, there was an injured unicorn in the forest, and their job had been to look for it so Hagrid could put it out of its misery. Also, another unicorn had been found dead last Wednesday. Hagrid had been worried.

They had met two centaurs, named Ronan and Bane, during the search. Hagrid had questioned both, but the only information they'd given was that Mars was bright tonight. Also, Ronan had said, "Always the innocent are the first victims. So it has been for ages past, so it is now," when Hagrid had told him about the injured unicorn.

Eric and Sophie had then been paired together and sent to look in a different direction from Hagrid, Malfoy, and Fang. They had found the unicorn, dead. They'd been about to let off sparks to call Hagrid over when they'd heard a slithering sound. A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered, and then a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast. The figure had begun drinking the unicorn's blood.

Sophie had screamed, causing the hooded figure to raise its head and look right at hem. It got to its feet and came swiftly toward them. However, they were rescued by a centaur named Firenze, who charged at the figure and made it disappear.

Firenze took them back to Hagrid, going so far as to let them ride on his back. From what Alexis had read about centaurs, this was odd. Centaurs were very proud beings who had decided to take beast status and looked down upon wizards. They simply just didn't offer humans to ride on them. The centaurs in the _Chronicles of Narnia_ series had been slightly less proud and willing to help humans, but even they didn't carry humans on their back like a horse. The only exception had been in _The Silver Chair_, when two centaurs had allowed Jill Pole and Eustace Scrubb to ride them to Cair Paravel.

Bane and Ronan had burst in upon them right after Eric and Sophie had mounted Firenze. Bane had been very angry at what Firenze was doing, who had shouted back and then took off at a gallop. Firenze had told Eric and Sophie what unicorn blood was used for and they realized that it had to be Voldemort after the Stone. That is, Voldemort was waiting in the forest and Snape wanted the Stone for him.

Alexis stared at her two friends, open-mouthed. "So all we have to wait for now is Snape to steal the Stone. Then Voldemort will be able to come and finish me off. Well, I suppose Bane will be happy. From what you told us about him, Eric and Sophie, it's probably what he's read in the stars."

Hermione looked very frightened, but she had a word of comfort. "Alexis, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't touch you. Anyway, who says the centaurs are right? It sounds like fortune-telling to me, and Professor McGonagall says that's a very imprecise branch of magic."

"I'm not afraid of Voldemort!" snapped Alexis. "He couldn't kill me before, and I might be lucky again. If Talia could survive intense torture from a sadistic king who had his father killed so he could take throne, then I'm sure I can survive Voldemort."

"But you're not a book character, Alexis," pointed out Sophie. "The author decides whether or not a character is going to survive something or not."

"I've had my share of unpleasantness," retorted Alexis. "My childhood wasn't a great one. My bedroom was a cupboard until after I got my Hogwarts letter and Mrs. Channing threatened my aunt and uncle. Then I got moved to Dudley's second bedroom. From the time I was six, I cooked all the meals except when my relatives had a dinner party. Then my aunt made the meal. I also had to do things like vacuum, wash the dishes, and dust. Dudley and his little gang of friends bullied me. Every time I demonstrated accidental magic or displeased my aunt and uncle, I was given extra chores and locked in the cupboard for a few days. Sometimes I was also given no meals."

Her friends stared at her, shocked and horrified. "You said they only spent as little money on you as possible and that your cousin occasionally bullied you!" exclaimed Neville.

"I thought they might have treated you a little like Sara Crewe, but not like this!" cried Sophie. "At least Sara had a room to sleep in, not a cupboard."

Eric shook his head. "I thought my childhood was bad. Yours is a million times worse."

"Why doesn't Mrs. Channing report your relatives to the police?" asked Hermione.

"She doesn't know what I just blurted out," answered Alexis. "Just that I had to sleep in a cupboard, didn't get new things, and was bullied by my cousin. The police can't arrest someone for not giving new stuff, and she got my relatives to give me a real bedroom."

"Well, why didn't you tell someone the full story?" asked Neville.

"I did once, in first grade," snapped Alexis. "I told my teacher. The Dursleys glossed the whole thing over and pretended that I was seeking attention. I got two weeks in the cupboard except for school and to do my chores. My aunt slapped me, my uncle encouraged Dudley to bully me more, and I also received no meals for those two weeks, except for lunch. They didn't want me to attract attention with no lunch at school."

"So after that, you didn't see the point in telling someone," said Ron. "You thought you wouldn't be believed. That's terrible, Alexis."

"Well, that's all in the past," said Alexis. "My relatives are afraid of magic, and combined with Mrs. Channing's threat, they've stopped being so horrible to me. They mostly ignore me now. It's an improvement. I don't want to discuss this anymore."

The other exchanged looks, but did as Alexis wanted. They talked some more about what had happened in the forbidden forest before heading off to bed. However, the night's surprises weren't over.

When Sophie pulled back her sheets, she found her invisibility cloak folded neatly underneath them. There was a note pinned to it: _Just in case_.


	16. Through the Trapdoor

In years to come, Alexis would never quite remember how she had managed to get through her exams when she half expected Voldemort to come bursting through the door at any moment. Yet the days crept by and there could be no doubt that Fluffy was still alive and well behind the locked door.

It was sweltering hot, especially in the large classroom where they did their written papers. They had been given special, new quills for the exams, which had been bewitched with an Anti-Cheating Spell.

They had practical exams also. Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap dance across a desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox – points were given for how pretty the snuff-box was, but taken away if it had whiskers. Snape made them all nervous, breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion.

Alexis did the best she could. Her snuff-box turned out quite well. Her pineapple danced across the desk, but it didn't move very energetically. Her Forgetfulness potion was perfect, and Snape looked very grumpy after he looked at it.

At nights, Alexis didn't sleep very well, because she kept having nightmares involving her parents' deaths, except that Voldemort was a hooded figure dripping blood. Her scar also kept hurting. None of her friends had nightmares, except Eric. He kept remembering what had happened in the forbidden forest. His nightmares consisted of him being chased by a hooded figure. Every time the figure caught him, he would wake up.

Eric turned twelve on June 20th, and after the day's exams, he and his friends gathered in the secret room. The house elves had sent up some food, and the six friends relaxed a couple of hours and celebrated. Eric opened his presents, they ate the food, and played Exploding Snap. It was fun, but after dinner, they went back to revising.

Their very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who invented self-stirring cauldrons and they'd be free, free for a whole wonderful week until exam results came out. When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, Alexis couldn't help cheering with the rest.

"That was far easier than I thought it would be," said Hermione as they joined the crowds flocking out into the sunny grounds. "I needn't have learnt about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."

Hermione always liked to go through their exam papers afterwards, but Ron said this made him feel ill, so they wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows.

"No more revision," Ron sighed happily. Stretching out on the grass. "You could look more cheerful, Alexis, we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet."

Alexis rubbed her forehead. "I wish I knew what this means!" she burst out angrily. "My scar keeps hurting on and off, and it really hurt that time I bumped into Quirrell two days ago. Do I have a connection to Voldemort or something through my scar? If it is, then why didn't hurt when Snape was hovering about my potion during the exam? Something is going on. My scar hasn't hurt as often as this before."

"Go to Madam Pomfrey," Sophie suggested. "Maybe she can help."

"I'm not ill," replied Alexis. "I think it's a warning ... it means danger's coming."

Ron couldn't get worked up, it was too hot. "Alexis, relax, Hermione's right, the Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around. Anyway, we've never had any proof that Snape found out how to get past Fluffy. He nearly had his left ripped off once, he's not going to try it again in a hurry. And Neville will play Quidditch for England, no offence, Neville, before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down."

Alexis nodded, but she couldn't shake off a lurking feeling that there was something she'd forgotten to do, something important. When she tried to explain this, Hermione said, "That's just the exams. I woke up last night and was halfway through my Transfiguration notes before I remembered we'd done that one."

Alexis was quite sure the unsettled feeling didn't have anything to do with work, though. She watched an owl flutter towards the school across the bright blue sky, a note clamped in its beak. "What if we're wrong about Snape being after the Stone?" she asked. "It could be Quirrell. My scar has hurt around him. It hasn't hurt around Snape, except for that time at the welcoming feast, but Quirrell was next to him."

Sophie looked thoughtful. "You have a point. Maybe Snape is trying to stop Quirrell. He could have been threatening Quirrell to find out how much he knew."

Eric snorted. "Oh please. Quirrell is scared of his own shadow. I find it hard to believe that he could be serving You-Know-Who and be after the Stone for him."

"The evidence does point to Snape," said Alexis. "Anyway, we know Voldemort wants the Stone to come back into power. But there's a piece of the puzzle missing."

She thought about Hagrid. Hagrid was one of four people who sent him letters. Hagrid would never betray Dumbledore. Hagrid would never tell anyone how to get past Fluffy ... never … but – Alexis suddenly jumped to her feet, face white.

"Where're you going?" asked Ron sleepily.

"I've just thought of something," said Alexis. "We've got to go and see Hagrid, now."

"Why?" panted Hermione, hurrying to keep up.

"Don't you think it's a bit odd," said Alexis, scrambling up the grassy slope, that what Hagrid wants more than anything else is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to have an egg in his pocket? How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against wizard law? Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think? Why didn't I see it before?"

"Oh no!" moaned Neville, while Ron still looked puzzled.

Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves were rolled up and he was shelling peas into a large bowl.

"Hullo," he said, smiling. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"

"Yes, please," said Ron, but Alexis cut across him.

"No, we're in a hurry. Hagrid, I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"

"Dunno," said Hagrid casually, "he wouldn' take his cloak off." He saw the six of them look stunned and raised his eyebrows. "It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head – that's one o' the pubs down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."

Alexis sank down next to the bowl of peas.

"What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"

"Mighta come up," said Hagrid, frowning as he tried to remember. "Yeah ... he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here ... He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I look after ... so I told him ... I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks ... Let's see ... yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted ... but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn't want it ter go ter any old home ... So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy ..."

"And did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Alexis asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

"Well – yeah how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep –" Hagrid suddenly looked horrified. "I shouldn'ta told yeh that!" he blurted out. "Forget I said it! Hey – where're yeh goin'?"

The six of them didn't speak to each other at all until they came to a halt in the entrance hall, which seemed very cold and gloomy after the grounds.

"We've got to go to Dumbledore," said Alexis. "Hagrid told that stranger how to get past Fluffy and it was either Snape or Voldemort or even Quirrell under that cloak – it must've been easy, once he'd got Hagrid drunk. I just hope Dumbledore believes us. That Firenze might back us up if Bane doesn't stop him. Where's Dumbledore's office?"

They looked around, as if hoping to see a sign pointing them in the right direction. They had never been told where Dumbledore lived, nor did they know anyone who had been sent to see him. "We'll just have to –" Alexis began, but a voice ran across the hall.

"What are you six doing inside?" It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a pile of books.

"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," said Sophie, rather bravely, Alexis thought.

"See Professor Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall repeated, as though this was a very fishy thing to want to do. "Why?"  
Alexis swallowed – now what? "It's sort of a secret," she replied, but wished at once she hadn't, because Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared.

"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago," she said coldly. "He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."

"He's _gone_?" demanded Alexis frantically. "_Now_?"

"Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Miss Potter, he has many demands on his time –"

"But this is very important, Professor McGonagall!"

"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Miss Potter?"

"Look," said Alexis, throwing caution to the winds, "Professor – it's about the Philosopher's Stone –"

Whatever Professor McGonagall had expected, it wasn't that. The books she was carrying tumbled out of her arms but she didn't pick them up.

"How do you know –?" she spluttered.

"Professor, I think – I _know_ – that Sn – that someone's going to try and steal the stone," answered Alexis. "I've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore."

She eyed Alexis with a mixture of shock and suspicion. "Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she said finally. "I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected."

"But Professor –"

"Miss Potter, I know what I'm talking about," she said shortly. She bent down and gathered up the fallen books. "I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."

But they didn't. "It's tonight," said Alexis, once she was sure Professor McGonagall was out of earshot. "Snape's going through the trapdoor tonight. He's found out everything he needs and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note, I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turns up."

"But what can we –," began Eric. Neville gasped. The others wheeled around.

Snape was standing there. "Good afternoon," he said smoothly. They stared at him. "You shouldn't be inside on a day like this," he said, with an odd, twisted smile.

"We were –" Alexis began, without any idea what she was going to say.

"You want to be more careful," said Snape. "Hanging around like this, people will think you're up to something. And Gryffindor really can't afford to lose any more points."

Alexis, Sophie, and Eric flushed. They turned to go back outside, but Snape called them back. "Be warned, Miss Potter – any might-time wanderings and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you." He strode off in the direction of the staff room.

Outside, the six decided that Sophie and Hermione would keep an eye on Snape. The rest would stay outside the third-floor corridor.

However, the latter part of the plan didn't work. No sooner had they reached the door separating Fluffy from the rest of the school than Professor McGonagall turned up again. This time, she lost her temper. She sent them away, saying that if she heard that they'd come anywhere near there again, she'd take another fifty points.

Alexis, Ron, Eric, and Neville went back to the common room. Eric had just said, "At least Hermione and Sophie are on Snape's tail," when the portrait of the Fat Lady swung forward and Sophie and Hermione came in.

"I'm sorry, Alexis!" wailed Sophie. "Snape came out and asked what we were doing, so we said we were waiting for Flitwick, and Snape went to get him, and we've only just got away. We don't know where Snape went."

"Well, that's it then, isn't it?" Alexis asked. The other five stared at her. She was pale and her eyes were glittering. "I'm going out of here tonight and I'm going to try and get the Stone first." Her friends stared at her.

"I'm coming with you," said Eric at once.

"You're mad, Alexis and Eric!" exclaimed Ron.

"You can't!" said Hermione. "After what McGonagall and Snape have said? The two of you will be expelled!"

"SO WHAT?" Alexis shouted. "Don't you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He'll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts! Losing points doesn't matter any more, can't you see? D'you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor win the house cup? If I get caught before I can get back to the Stone, well, I'll have to go back to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to find me there. It's only dying a bit later than I would have done, because I'm never going over to the Dark Side! I'm going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you guys say is going to stop me! Voldemort killed my parents, remember?" She glared at them.

"You're right, Alexis," said Neville in a small voice.

"I'll use my invisibility cloak," said Alexis.

"And mine," said Sophie. "It's lucky I got it back. After all, the six of us can't fit under one cloak. We need two."

"The six of us?" asked Alexis blankly.

"Come off it, you don't think we'd let you go alone?" asked Eric. "I said I was coming."

"Oh really, Alexis," said Sophie briskly. "We're your friends, and we're certainly not letting you get to the Stone without us. You're going to need help. We know Professor Sprout did something. Neville's much better in Herbology than you, and could help with that. And Ron knows strategy, Hermione and I are good with spells, and Eric's smart."

"But if we get caught, you guys will be expelled too," protested Alexis.

"Not if I can help it," said Hermione grimly. "Flitwick told me in secret that I got a hundred and twelve percent on his exam. They're not throwing me out after that."

After dinner, the six of them sat nervously in the common room. Nobody bothered them; none of the Gryffindors had anything to say to Sophie and Eric, after all. This was the first night Eric hadn't been upset by it. Hermione and Sophie were skimming through all their notes, hoping to come across one of the enchantments they were about to try and break. Alexis was reading _A Standard Book of Spells_ and Neville _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_. Eric read _A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration_ and Ron was reading _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_.

Slowly, the room emptied as people drifted off to bed. "Better get the cloaks," Eric muttered, as Lee Jordan finally left, stretching and yawning. Alexis and Sophie ran upstairs to their dark dormitory to fetch their cloaks. Alexis pulled out the cloak and then her eyes fell on the flute Hagrid had given her for Christmas. She pocketed it to use on Fluffy – she didn't feel much like singing.

She and Sophie ran back down to the common room. Alexis, Neville, and Eric got under one cloak while Sophie, Hermione, and Ron got under the other.

They slipped out. In their nervous state, every statue's shadow looked like Filch, every distant breath of wind sounded like Peeves swooping down on them.

At the foot of the first set of stairs, they spotted Mrs. Norris skulking near the top. "Oh, let's kick her, just this once," Eric whispered, but Alexis shook her head. As they climbed carefully around her, Mrs. Norris turned her lamp-like eyes on them, but didn't do anything. They didn't meet anyone else until they reached the staircase up to the third floor. Peeves was bobbing halfway up, loosening the carpet so that people would trip.

Alexis managed to get Peeves to go away by pretending to be the Bloody Baron. A few seconds later, they were there, outside the third floor corridor – and the door was ajar.

"Well, there you are," Alexis said quietly. "Snape's already got past Fluffy."

Seeing the open door somehow seemed to impress upon all of them what was facing them. Underneath the cloak, Alexis said, "If you want to go back. I won't blame you. Eric, Neville, you can take my cloak, I won't need it now."

"Don't be stupid," said Neville bravely, despite the quaver in his voice.

"We're coming with you," said Sophie firmly. Alexis pushed the door open.

As the door creaked, low, rumbling growls met their ears. All three of the dog's noses sniffed madly in their direction, even though it couldn't see them.

"What's that at its feet?" Hermione whispered.

"Looks like a harp," said Ron. "Snape must have left it there."

"It must wake up the moment you stop playing," said Alexis. "Well, here goes …"

She put Hagrid's flute to his lips and blew. It wasn't really a tune, but from the first note the beast's eyes began to droop. Alexis hardly drew breath. Slowly, the dog's growls ceased – it tottered on its paws and fell on its knees, then it slumped to the ground, fast asleep. They slipped out of the cloaks and crept towards the trapdoor. They could feel the dog's hot, smelly breath as they approached the giant heads/

"I think we'll be able to pull the door open," said Ron, peering over the dog's back. "Who wants to go first?" There was no reply.

"All right," Ron gritted his teeth and stepped carefully over the dog's legs. He bent and pulled the ring of the trapdoor, which swing up and opened.

"What can you see?" Sophie inquired anxiously.

"Nothing – just black – there's no way of climbing down, we'll just have to drop."

Alexis, who was still playing the flute, waved at Ron and pointed to herself.

"You want to go first? Are you sure?" asked Ron. "I don't know how deep this things goes. Give the flute to one of the others so we can keep him asleep."

Alexis handed the flute over. In the few seconds' silence, the dog growled and twitched, but the moment Hermione began to play, it fell back into its deep sleep.

Alexis climbed over it and looked down through the trapdoor. There was no sign of the bottom. She lowered herself through the hole until she was hanging on by her fingertips. Then she looked up at Ron and said, "If anything happens to me, don't follow. Go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, right?"

"Right," responded Ron nervously.

"See you in a minute, I hope ..." And Alexis let go. Cold, damp air rushed past her as she fell down, down, down, and – FLUMP. With a funny, muffled sort of thump she landed on something soft. She sat up and felt around, her eyes not used to the gloom. It felt as though she was sitting on some sort of plant.

"It's okay!" she called up to the light the size of a postage stamp, which was the open trapdoor. "It's a soft landing, you can jump!"

Ron followed straight away. He landed next to Alexis. "What's this stuff?" were his first words. Eric landed then, followed a second later by Sophie.

"Dunno, some sort of plant thing," replied Alexis. "I suppose it's here to break the fall." Neville landed, and then the distant music stopped. There was a loud bark from the dog, but Hermione had already jumped. She landed on top of Neville.

"We must be miles under the school," she said.

"Lucky this plant thing's here, really," said Eric.

"_Lucky_!" shrieked Hermione. "Look at you both!" She leaped up and struggled towards a damp wall. Neville and Sophie did the same. The three had to struggle, because the moment they had landed, the plant had started to twist snakelike tendrils around their ankles. As for Alexis, Ron, and Eric, their legs had already been bond tightly in long creepers without their noticing.

Hermione and Neville managed to free themselves before the plant got a firm grip, but Sophie wasn't so lucky. Now they watched in horror as the four fought the pull the plant off them, but the more they strained against it, the tighter and faster the plant wound around them.

"Stop moving!" Neville ordered them. "I know what this plant is – it's Devil's Snare!"

"Oh, I'm so glad we know what's it's called, that's a great help!" snarled Ron, leaning back, trying to stop the plant curling around his neck.

"Shut up!" shouted Neville. After a couple of seconds, he exclaimed, "The Devil's Snape likes the dark and damp! We need to light a fire! Hermione, you're the best at making –"

"But there's no wood!" cried Hermione, wringing her hands.

"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"

"Oh, right!" said Hermione, and she whipped out her wand, waved it, muttered something and sent a jet of the same bluebell flames she had used on Snape at the plant. In a matter of seconds, the four felt it loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light and warmth. Wriggling and flailing, it unravelled itself from their bodies and they were able to pull free.

"It's a good thing you're so good in Herbology, Neville," said Alexis.

"Yeah," said Eric, "and a good thing he doesn't lose his head in a crisis – 'there's no wood,' _honestly_." Hermione blushed.

"This way," said Alexis, pointing down a stone passageway which was the only way on.

They came into a chamber that they first thought contained birds, but then realized was flying keys. One of the keys would unlock the door at the other end.

There were several broomsticks and except for Neville and Hermione, they each grabbed a broom and kicked off into the air. They grabbed and snatched but the bewitched keys darted and dived so quickly it was almost impossible to catch one.

Not for nothing, though, was Alexis the youngest Seeker in a century. She had a knack for spotting things other people didn't. After a minute's weaving about through the whirl of rainbow feathers, she noticed a large silver key that had a bent wing, as if it had already been caught and stuffed roughly into the keyhole. She told the others about it, asking Ron to come at from above, Sophie to stay below and stop it going down, and Eric to come at it from the right.

Ron dived, Sophie rocketed upwards, Eric came streaking from the right, and the key dodged the. Alexis sped after it; it sped towards the wall, Alexis leant forward and with a nasty crunching noise, pinned it against the stone with one hand. The others cheered.

The four landed quickly and Alexis ran to the door, the key struggling in her hand. She rammed it into the lock and turned – it worked. The moment the lock had clicked open, the key took flight again, looking very battered now that it had been caught twice.

Alexis pulled the door open and went into the next chamber. It turned to be a giant chessboard and they had to play their way across. As Ron was the best out of them in playing chess, he took over. Alexis took the place of a bishop, Hermione a castle, Sophie the queen, Eric the king, Neville the other castle, and Ron was a knight.

After awhile, Neville had to be taken, for one of white's knights had Neville and Eric in a fork. Neville, face pale but determined, allowed it to happen. The white knight struck him hard, knocking him out. It dragged him off to the side.

Finally, Ron realized that for black to win the game, he had to allow himself to be captured. The other four didn't like it, but there was no other choice. The queen knocked out Ron. Then Alexis moved three spaces to the left, checkmating the king, who took off his crown and threw it at her feet. They had won. The chessman parted and bowed, leaving the door ahead clear. Hermione stayed behind to tend to Neville and Ron.

Alexis, Sophie, and Eric went out the door and through a room that had a troll. It was even larger than the one they had tackled, out cold with a bloody lump on its head.

Finally was Snape's protection, a table with seven differently-shaped bottled standing on it in a line. They stepped over the threshold and immediately a fire sprang up behind them in the doorway. It wasn't ordinary fire either; it was purple. At the same instant, black flames shot up in the doorway leading onwards. They were trapped.

"Look!" Sophie seized a roll of paper lying next to the row of bottles. Alexis and Eric looked over her shoulder to read it:

Eric couldn't seem to make heads or tails of the logic puzzle, but Sophie and Alexis did. "Three bottles are poison, two are wine, one will get us safely through the black fire, and one will get us back through the purple," Alexis told Eric.

"But how do we know which to drink?" he asked.

"Give us a minute," answered Sophie. She and Alexis read the paper several times and then began going through the bottles.

"Got it," said Alexis. "The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire."

Sophie pointed to a rounded bottle at the right end of the line. "That onbe takes us back through the purple flames."

"You guys go back," said Alexis. "The one to go forward won't be enough for the three of us."

Eric examined the smallest bottle. "But I don't want you to go alone, Alexis. Can't we split the potion between us? Sophie, you can go back and help Hermione tend to Neville and Ron."

Sophie hesitated, then nodded. Alexis sighed. "Eric, I can't let you. It's my job to face Snape or Quirrell or Voldemort and stop them from getting the Stone. And I really don't think there's enough potion for two, either. There's barely enough for one mouthful."

"Fine!" snapped Eric. "But if you die there, Alexis, I will personally kill you!"

"It's hard to kill someone when they're already dead," remarked Alexis.

"You know what I mean!" retorted Eric. He gave Alexis a tight hug and kissed her on the cheek.

Sophie hugged Alexis and kissed her on the cheek as well, and then she and Eric drank from the round bottle at the end and walked through the purple fire. Alexis drank the potion in the smallest bottle and walked through the black fire.

For a moment, she could see nothing but dark fire – then she was on the other side, in the last chamber. There was already someone there – and Alexis wasn't surprised to see that it wasn't Snape. It wasn't even Voldemort.


	17. Meeting and Defeating Voldemort

It was Quirrell. Alexis stared at him. Part of her had thought that Snape might be a red herring, so she hadn't been surprised when it wasn't him. However, she had never really considered it could be Quirrell ever since the conversation she had overheard. Furthermore, he didn't act as if he could be a servant to Voldemort, though she supposed it could have been an act. "YOU!" she shouted.

Quirrell smiled. His face wasn't twitching at all.

"Me," he said calmly. "I wondered whether I'd be meeting you here, Miss Potter."

"I thought Snape was the more likely culprit, though I also wondered if maybe he was a red herring."

"Severus?" Quirrell laughed and it wasn't his usual quivering treble, either, but cold and sharp. "Yes, Severus does seem the type, doesn't he? So useful to have him swooping around like an overgrown bat. Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor st-stuttering P-Professor Quirrell?"

"But my friends and I did suspect you for a time!" snapped Alexis. "They saw both you and Snape doing something during that Quidditch match, They figured one of you was jinxing my broom and the other was doing the counter."

"Very smart," said Quirrell, an eyebrow raised. "Yes, I tried to kill you. Another few seconds and I'd have got you off that broom. I'd have managed it before then if Snape hadn't been muttering a counter-curse, trying to save you."

"So Snape was trying to save me?" inquired Alexis

"Of course," said Quirrell cooly. "Why do you think he wanted to referee your next match? He was trying to make sure I didn't do it again. Funny, really ... he needn't have bothered. I couldn't do anything with Dumbledore watching. All the other teachers thought Snape was trying to stop Gryffindor winning, he did make himself unpopular ... and what a waste of time, when after all that, I'm going to kill you tonight."

Quirrell snapped his fingers. Ropes sprang out of thin air and wrapped themselves tightly around Alexis. "You're too nosy to live, Miss Potter. Scurrying around the school at Halloween like that, for all I knew you'd seen me coming to look at what was guarding the Stone."

"So you were the one who let the troll in!"

"Certainly. I have a special gift with trolls - you must have seen what I did to the one in the chamber back there? Unfortunately, while everyone else was running about looking for it, Snape, who already suspected me, went straight to the third floor to head me off - and not only did my troll fail to beat you to death, that three-headed dog didn't even manage to bite Snape's leg off properly."

"Now, wait quietly, Miss Potter. I need to examine this interesting mirror."

It was only then that Alexis realised what was standing behind Quirrell. It was the Mirror of Erised.

"This mirror is the key to finding the Stone," Quirrell murmered, tapping his way around the frame. "Trust Dumbledore to come up with something like this ...but he's in London ... I'll be far away by the time he gets back ..."

Alexis did have a small contrary streak in her. There were times when she had wanted to do exactly the opposite of whatever the Dursleys said, but hadn't because she'd be punished for it. Now, she didn't care. She decided to not wait quietly and do something instead that would throw of Quirrell's concentration. She recalled an annoying song she'd learned in primary school and began singing loudly (and a bit off-key in her nervousness), "This is the song that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friends. Some people started singing it without knowing what it was and they'll continue singing it forever just because this is the song that never ends ..."

"Will you stop singing that song?!?" demanded Quirrell in the middle of the fourth repeat of the song.

"Okay," replied Alexis cheekily. "I'll stop singing that song." Then she launched into, "This is the song that gets oon everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves. This is the song that gets on everybody's nerves and this is how it goes..."

"That is enough!" snapped Quirrell after the third repeat. "Stop singing that annoying song!"

"Okay, I will." Alexis stopped sing that song, but began singing the chorus of "It's a Small World," several times. Quirrell, increasingly frustrated with having his concentration broken, yelled a third time for her to stop singing that song. Alexis did, but began singing "Old MacDonald", determined to have every animal she could think of be on the farm.

She hadn't even gotten as far as to name the first animal (a horse), when Quirrell yelled, "ENOUGH! Miss Potter, you will cease singing immediately, or I will kill you right now!"

Alexis stopped singing, but still was determined to distract Quirrell with conversation. "I saw you and Snape in the Forest -" she blurted out.

"Yes," said Quirrell idly, walking around the Mirror to look at the back. "He was on to me by that time, trying to find out how far I'd got. He suspected me all along. Tried to frighten me - as though he could, when I had Lord Voldemort on my side ..."

Quirrell came back out from behind the Mirror and stared hungrily into it.  
"I see the Stone ... I'm presenting it to my master ... but where is it?"

Alexis struggled against the ropes binding her, but they didn't give. She had to keep Quirrell from giving his whole attention to the Mirror.

"But Snape always seemed to hate me so much."

"Oh, he does," said Quirrell casually, "Heavens, yes. He was at Hogwarts with your father, didn't you know? They loathed each other. But he never wanted you dead."

"But I heard you a few days ago, sobbing - I thought Snape was threatening you ..."

For the first time, a spasm of fear flitted across Quirrell's face.  
"Sometimes," he said, "I find it hard to follow my master's instructions - he is a great wizard and I am weak -"

"You mean he was there in the classroom with you?" Alexis gasped.

"He is with me wherever I go," said Quirrell quietly. "I met him when I travelled around the world. A foolish young man I was then, full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil. Lord Voldemort showed me how wrong I was. There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it ... Since then, I have served him faithfully, although I have let him down many times. he has had to be very hard on me." Quirrell shivered suddenly.

"He does not forgive mistakes easily. When I failed to steal the Stone from Gringotts, he was most displeased. He punished me ... decided he would have to keep a closer watch on me ..."

Quirrell's voice tailed away. Alexis was remembering her trip to Diagon Alley - how could she have been so stupid? She'd seen Quirrell there that very day, shaken hands with him in the Leaky Cauldron.

Quirrell cursed under his breath.

"I don't understand ... is the Stone inside the Mirror? Should I break it?"  
Alexis's mind was racing.

What I want more than anything else in the world at the moment, she thought, is to find the Stone before Quirrell does. So if I look in the Mirror, I should see myself finding it - which means I'll see where it's hidden! But how can I look without Quirrell realising what I'm up to?

She tried to edge to the left, to get in front of the glass without Quirrell noticing, but the ropes round her ankles were too tight: She tripped and fell over.

Quirrell ignored him. He was still talking to himself.  
"What does this mirror do? How does it work? Help me, Master!"

And to Alexis's horror, a voice answered, and the voice seemed to come from Quirrell himself.  
"Use the girl ... use the girl ..."

Quirrell rounded on Alexis. "Yes - Miss Potter - come here."

He clapped his hands once and the ropes binding Alexis fell off. She got slowly to her feet.

"Come here," Quirrell repeated. "Look in the Mirror and tell me what you see."

Alexis walked towards him.  
"I must lie," she thought desperately. "I must look and lie about what I see, that's all."

Quirrell moved close behind her. Alexis breathed in the funny smell that seemed to come from Quirrell's turban. She closed her eyes, stepped in front of the Mirror and opened them again.

She saw his reflection, pale and scared-looking at first. But a moment later, the reflection smiled at her. It put its hand into its pocket and pulled out a blood-red stone.

It winked and put the Stone back in its pocket - and as it did so, Alexis felt something heavy drop into her real pocket. Somehow - incredibly - she'd got the Stone.

"Well?" said Quirrell impatiently. "What do you see?"

Alexis screwed up his courage.  
"I see myself flying on a broom, with my parents watching me," she lied. "They're alive and I'm living happily with them."

Quirrell cursed again.

"Get out of the way," he said. As Alexis moved aside she felt the Philosopher's Stone against her leg. Dare she make a break for it?

But she hadn't walked five paces before a high voice spoke, though Quirrell wasn't moving his lips.  
"She lies ... She lies ..."

"Potter, come back here!" Quirrell shouted. "Tell the truth! What did you just see?"

The high voice spoke again.  
"Let me speak to her ... face to face ..."

"Master, you are not strong enough!"

"I have strength enough ... for this ..."

Alexis felt as if the Devil's Snare was rooting her so the spot. She couldn't move a muscle. Petrified, dhe watched as Quirrell reached up and began to unwrap his turban. She began wondering if Voldemort was possessing Quirrell somehow.

The turban fell away. Quirrell's head looked strangely small without it. Then he turned slowly on the spot

Alexis would have screamed, but she couldn't make a sound. Where there should have been a back to Quirrell's head, there was a face, the most terrible face she had ever seen. It was chalk white with glaring red eyes and sltis for nostrils, like a snake..

"Alexis Potter ..." it whispered. Alexis didn't flinch, determined not to show any fear. She'd done her best not to show fear in front of the Dursleys, and just because Voldemort was worse than them combined didn't mean she was going to act afraid.

"See what I have become?" the face said. "Mere shadow and vapour ... I have form only when I can share another's body ... but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds ... Unicorn blood has strengthened me, these past weeks ... your friends saw faithful Quirrell drinking it for me in the Forest ... and once I have the Elixir of Life, I will be able to create a body of my own ...Now ... why don't you give me that Stone in your pocket?"

So he knew. Alexis pointed her wand at him and took a step back.

"Don't be a fool," snarled the face. "Better save your own life and join me ... or you'll meet the same end as you parents ... they died begging me for mercy ..."

"LIAR!" Alexis shouted suddenly. From her dreams, she knew perfectly well that her father had died fighting off Voldemort.

Quirrell was walking backwards at him, so that Voldemort could still see him. The evil face was now smiling.

"How touching ..." it hissed. "I always value bravery ... Yes, girl, you're parents were brave ... I killed your father first and he put up a courageous fight ... but your mother needn't have died ...she was trying to protect you ... Now give me the Stone, unless you want her to have died in vain."

"NEVER!" Alexis sprang towards the flame door, but Voldemort screamed, "SEIZE HER!" and, next second, she felt Quirrell's hands close on her wrist.

At once, a needle-sharp pain seared scross Alexis's scar; her head felt as though it was about to split in two; she yelled, struggling with all her might, and to her surprise, Quirrell let go of her.

The pain in her head lessened - she looked around wildly to see where Quirrell had gone and saw him hunched in pain, looking at his fingers - they were blistering before his eyes.

"Seize her! SEIZE HER!" shrieked Voldemort again and Quirrell lunged, knocking Alexis clean off her feet, landing on top of her, both hands round her neck - her scar was almost blinding her with pain, yet she could see Quirrell howling in agony. "Master, I cannot hold him - my hands - my hands!"  
And Quirrell, though pinning Alexis to the ground with his knees, let go of her neck and stared, bewildered, at his own palms - Alexis could see they looked burnt, raw, red and shiny.

"Then kill her, fool, and be done!"screetched Voldemort.

Quirrell raised his hand to perform a deadly curse, but Alexis, by instinct, reached up and grabbed Quirrell's face -"AAARGH!"

Quirrell rolled off her, his face blistering, too, and then she knew: Quirrell couldn't touch her bare skin, not without suffering terrible pain- her only chance was to keep hold of Quirrell, keep him in enough pain to stop him doing a curse.

Alexis jumped to her feet, caught Quirrell by the arm and hung on as tight as she could.

Quirrell screamed and tried to throw her off - the pain in her head was building - she couldn't see - she could only hear Quirrell's terrible shrieks and Voldemort's yells of "KILL Her! KILL HER!"and other voices, maybe in Alexis's own head, crying, "Alexis! Alexis!"

She felt Quirrell's arm wrenched from her grasp, knew all was lost, and fell into blackness, down ... down ... down ...

Something gold was glinting just above her. The Snitch! She tried to catch it, but her arms were too heavy.

She blinked. It wasn't the Snitch at all. It was a pair of glasses. How strange.

She blinked again. The smiling face of Albus Dumbledore swam into view above her. "Good afternoon, Alexis," said Dumbledore.

Alexis stared at him. Then she remembered. "Sir! The Stone! It was Quirrell! he's got the Stone! Sir, quick -"

"Calm yourself, dear girl, you are a little behind the times," said Dumbledore. "Quirrell does not have the Stone."

"Then who does? Sir, I -"

"Alexis, please relax, or Madame Pomfrey will have me thrown out."

Alexis swallowed and looked around her. She realised she must be in the hospital wing. She was lying in a bed with white linen sheets and next to her was a table piled high with what looked like half the sweet-shop.  
"Tokens from your friends and admirers," said Dumbledore, beaming. "What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows. I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a lavatory seat. No doubt they thought it would amuse you. Madame Pomfrey, however, felt it might not be very hygenic, and confiscated it."

Alexis chuckled, then asked, "How long have I been here?"

"Three days. Your friends will be most relieved you have come round, they have been extremely worried."

"But sir, the Stone -"

"I see you are not to be distracted. Very well, the Stone. Professor Quirrell did not manage to take it from you. I arrived in time to prevent that, although you were doing very well on your own, I must say."

"You got there? So one of my friends must have sent you an owl?"

"If he or she did, we must have crossed in mid-air. No sooner had I reached London than it became clear to me that the place I should be was the one I had just left. I arrived just in time to pull Quirrell off you -"

"It was you."

"I feared I might be too late."

"You nearly were, I couldn't have kept him off the Stone much longer -"

"Not the Stone, child, you - the effort involved nearly killed you. For one terrible moment there, I was afraid it had. As for the Stone, it has been destroyed."

"Destroyed?" said Alexis blankly. "But your friend - Nicolas Flamel -"

"Oh, you know about Nicolas?" said Dumbledore, sounding quite delighted. "You did do the thing properly, didn't you? Well, Nicolas and I have had a little chat and agreed it's all for the best."

"But that means he and his wife will die, won't they?"

"They have enough Elixir stored to set their affairs in order and then, yes, they will die."

Dumbledore smiled at the look of amazement on Alexis's face.

"To one as young as you, I'm sure it seems incredible, but to Nicolas and Perenelle, it really is like going to bed after a very, very long day. After all, to the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure. You know, the Stone was really not a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all - the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things which are worse for them."

Alexis lay there, lost for words. She hoped that wherever her parents were, in Heaven or whatever afterlife was waiting, they were happy and having their own adenture.

Dumbledore hummed a little and smiled at the ceiling.  
"Sir?" asked Alexis. "I've been thinking ... Sir - even if the Stone's gone, Vol - ... I mean, You-Know-Who -"

"Call him Voldemort, Alexis. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."

"Yes, sir. Well, Voldemort's going to try other ways of coming back, isn't he? I mean, he hasn't gone, has he?"

"No, Alexis, he has not. He is still out there somewhere, perhaps looking for another body to share ... not being truly alive, he cannot be killed. He left Quirrell to die; he shows just as little mercy to his followers as his enemies. Nevertheless, Alexis, while you may only have delayed his return to power, it will merely take someone else who is prepared to fight what seems a losing battle next time - and if he is delayed again, and again, why, he may never return to power."

Alexis nodded, but stopped quickly, because it made her head hurt.

Then she said, "Sir, there are some things I'd like to know, if you can tell me ... things I want to know that truth about ..."

"The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution. However, I shall answer your questions unless I have a very good reason not to, in which case I beg you forgive me. I shall not, of course, lie."

"Well ... Voldemort said that she only killed my mother because she tried to stop him killing me. But why would he want to kill me in the first place?

Dumbledore sighed very deeply this time.  
"Alas, the first thing you ask me, I cannot tell you. Not today. Not now. You will know, one day ... put it from your mind for now, Alexis. When you are older ... I know you hate to hear this ... when you are ready, you will know."

And Alexis knew it was no good to argue.

"But why couldn't Quirrell touch me?"

"Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realise that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign ... to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection for ever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good."

Dumbledore now became very interested in a bird out on the window-sill, which gave Alexis time to dry his eyes on the sheet.

When she had found his voice again, Alexis said, "And the Invisibility Cloak - do you know who sent it to me?"

"Ah - your father happened to leave it in my possession and I thought you might like it." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Useful things ... your father used it mainly for sneaking off to the kitchens to steal food when he was here."

"And there's something else ..."

"Fire away."

"Quirrell said Snape -"

"Professor Snape, Alexis."

"Yes, him - Quirrell said he hates me because he hated my father. Is that true?"

"Well, they did rather detest each other. Not unlike yourself and Mr. Malfoy. And then, your father did something Snape could never forgive."

"What?" asked Alexis curiously.

"He saved his life."

"_What_?"

"Yes ..." said Dumbledore dreamily. "Funny, the way people's minds work, isn't it? Professor Snape couldn't bear being in your father's debt ... I do believe he worked so hard to protect you this year because he felt that would make him and your father quits. Then he could go back to hating your father's memory in peace ..."

Alexis tried to understand this but it made her head pound, so she stopped. "Professor, why did you have Hagrid bring me to live with the Dursleys? Didn't I have godparents or magical relatives that could take me in?"

"Your only close living relatives are your aunt and uncle," replied Dumbledore. "They were the only ones that could take you in. As pureblood families are related and your father was a pureblood, you would find yourself distantly related to most of your friends. However, just because you happen to be fifth cousin or something similar, to, say, Ronald Weasley, does not mean that the Wealseys can take in you. In addition, you are protected at your aunt's house. Your mother died to protect you, and as your aunt shares her blood, the protection is extended. So long as your home is at your aunt and uncle's, you will not be harmed by Dark wizards while you are there. That is mainly why I had you live at your relatives' home."

"I understand, but have you ever considered that my relatives might not like me and not be, un, very nice to me, sir?"

Dumbledore looked taken aback. "Your relatives have been less than kind to you? I did not want them to spoil you, but neither did I want them not to treat you properly. I shall write to your aunt and uncle and remind them that they have to be kinder to you. And I am truly sorry for how they may treated you before, Alexis. I never expected that they would do this. I had hoped that your aunt would remember the love she once had for her sister and for her sake take you in and bring you up as a daughter."

"Apology accepted, sir," responded Alexis. "You couldn't have known, at least not until my Hogwarts letters was sent out."

"Ah yes, I did notice your address," said Dumbledore. "I was concerned about it, but then Professor McGonagall said you had a proper bedroom when she came to see you, so I stopped being concerned."

"I see. And, sir, there's one more thing ..."

"Just the one?"

"How did I get the Stone out of the Mirror?"

"Ah, now, I'm glad you asked me that. It was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that's saying something. You see, only one who wanted to find the Stone - find it, but not use it - would be able to get it, otherwise they'd just see themselves making gold or drinking Elixir of Life. My brain surprises even me sometimes ... Now, enough questions. I suggest you make a start on these sweets. Ah! Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans! I was unfortunate enough in my youth to come across a vomit flavoured one, and since then I'm afraid I've rather lost my liking for them - but I think I'll be safe with a nice toffee, don't you?"  
He smiled and popped the golden-brown bean into his mouth. Then he choked and said, "Alas! Earwax!"

* * *

"Absolutely not." 

"You let Professor Dumbledore in ..."

"Well, of course, that was the Headmaster, quite different. You need rest."

"I am resting, look, lying down and everything. Oh, go on, Madam Pomfrey ..."

"Oh, very well," she said. "But five minutes only."

And she let Alexis's friends in.

"Alexis!"

Hermione looked ready to fling her arms around her, but Alexis was glad she held herself in as her head was still very sore.  
"Oh, Alexis, we were sure you were going to - Dumbledore was so worried -"

"I was ready to carry out my threat if you had died," said Eric.

"The whole school's talking about it," said Ron. "What really happened?"

It was one of those rare occasions when the true story is even more strange and exciting than the wild rumours. Alexis told them everything; Quirrell; the Mirror; the Stone and Voldemort. Her friends were a very good audience; they gasped in all the right places and, when Alexis told them what was under Quirrell's turban, Hermione and Neville screamed out loud.

"So the Stone's gone?" said Sophie finally. "Flamel's just going to die?"

"That's what I said, but Dumbledore thinks that - what was it? - 'to the well organised mind, death is but the next great adventure'."

"I always said he was off his rocker," said Ron, looking quite impressed at how mad his hero was.

"So what happened to you guys?" asked Alexis.

"Well, we got back all right," said Hermione. "Sophie, Eric, and I brought Ron and Neville round - that took a while - and we were dashing up to the owlery to contact Dumbledore when we met him in the Entrance Hall. He already knew - he just said, 'Alexis's gone after him, hasn't he?' and hurtled off to the third floor."

"D'you think she meant you to do it?" said Ron. "Sending you your father's Cloak and everything?"

"Well," Hermione exploded, "if he did - I mean to say - that's terrible - you could have been killed."

"No, it isn't," said Alexis thoughtfully. "He's a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help. I don't think it was an accident he let me find out how the Mirror worked. It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could ..."

"Yeah, Dumbledore's barking, all right," said Ron proudly. "Listen, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and Slytherin won, of course - even though we managed to win the Quidditch match and Cup against Ravenclaw - but the food'll be good."

"How did you win?" asked Alexis. "I was here, and Gryffindor doesn't have a reserve seeker."

"I took your place," answered Sophie. "Wood was in a state about you not being able to play, and I convinced him to let me substitute. I'm a decent flyer, even if I haven't flown all that much. I borrowed your broom, Alexis. I hope you don't mind. The school brooms are rubbish, and there wasn't enough time for Grandmother to send me my broom. I caught the Snitch in about fifteen minutes, and now Wood wants to make me a reserve seeker in case you can't play a match in the future. I'm not sure. I think I perfer being Chaser to Seeker, and I'm not certain I really want to get involved with the team. Wood says he'd want me to be at all the practices, and I really don't want to make such a commitment right now."

"Oh, and Wood has a girlfriend now," said Eric in mild disgust. "It's Kyra Channing. You know how they kissed after the record-breaking match with Hufflepuff? At that stage, they were attracted to each other. After Gryffindor won the Quidditch cup, Wood and Kyra kissed again in the euphoria, and now they're officially boyfriend and girlfriend." He made a face.

At that moment, Madam Pomfrey bustled over.  
"You've had nearly fifteen minutes, now OUT!" she said firmly.

After a good night's sleep, Alexis felt nearly back to normal.

"I want to go to the feast," she told Madam Pomfrey as she straightened her many sweet-boxes. "I can, can't I?"

"Professor Dumbledore says you are allowed to go," she said sniffily, as though in her opinion Professor Dumbledore didn't realise how risky feasts could be. "And you have another visitor."

"Oh good," said Alexis. "Who is it?"

Hagrid sidled through the door as she spoke. As usual when he was indoors, Hagrid looked too big to be allowed. He sat down next to Alexis, took one look at her, and burst into tears.

"It's - all - my - ruddy - fault!" he sobbed, his face in his hands. "I told the evil git how ter get past Fluffy! I told him! It was the only thing he didn't know an' I told him! Yeh could've died! All fer a dragon egg! I'll never drink again! I should be chucked out an' made ter live as a Muggle!"

"Hagrid!" said Alexis, shocked to see Hagrid shaking with grief and remorse, great tears leaking down into his beard. "Hagrid, he'd have found out somehow, this is Voldemort we're talking about, he'd have found out even if you hadn't told him."

"Yeh could've died! sobbed Hagrid. "An' don' say the name!"

"VOLDEMORT!" Alexis bellowed, and Hagrid was so shocked, he stopped crying.

"I've met him and I'm calling him by his name. Please cheer up, Hagrid, we saved the Stone, it's gone, he can't use it. Have a Chocolate Frog, I've got loads ..."

Hagrid wiped his nose on the back of his hand and said, "That reminds me. I've got yeh a present."

"It's not a stoat sandwich, is it?" asked Alexis anxiously and at last Hagrid gave a weak chuckle.

"'Nah. Dumbledore gave me the day off yesterday ter fix it. 'Course, he shoulda sacked me instead - anyway, got yeh this ..."

It seemed to be a handsome, leather-covered book. Alexis opened it curiously. It was full of wizard photographs. Smiling and waving at him from every page were her mother and father.

"Sent owls off ter all yer parents' old school friends, askin' fer photos ... Knew yeh didn' have any ... D'yeh like it?"

Alexis couldn't speak, only nodded dumbly, but Hagrid understood.

Alexis made her way down to the end-of-year feast alone that night. She had been held up by Madam Pomfrey's fussing-about, insisting on giving her one last check-up, so the Great Hall was already full. It was decked out in the Slytherin colours of green and silver to celebrate Slytherin's winning the House Cup for the seventh year in a row. A huge banner showing the Slytherin serpent covered the wall behind the High Table.

When Alexis walked in there was a sudden hush and then everybody started talking loudly at once. She slipped into a seat between Sophie and Neville at the Gryffindor table and tried to ignore the fact that people were standing up to look at her.

Fortunately, Dumbledore arrived moments later. The babble died away.

"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are a little fuller than they were ... you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before the next year starts ...

"Now, as I understand it, the House Cup here needs awarding and the points stand thus: in fourth place, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Gryffindor, with three hundred and sixty-two; Ravenclaw have four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."

A storm of cheering and stamping broke out from the Slytherin table. Alexis could see Draco Malfoy banging his goblet on the table. It was a sickening sight.

"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account."

The room went very still. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little.

"Ahem," said Dumbledore. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes ... to Mr. Neville Longbottom, Miss Sophie Kent, Mr. Ronald Weasley, Miss Hermione Granger, and Mr. Eric Carrow, I award thirty points each. They showed exemplarly courage and skill in the face of danger and tests, whether it be dangerous plants, chess games, or logic puzzles in the face of fire."

The Gryffindors began cheering, and some of the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs joined in. Those who could do math and cheer at the same time realized that Gryffindor and Slytherin were tied in first place. Dumbledore held up a hand and continued, "And to Miss Alexis Potter, I award forty points, for her pure nerve and outstanding courage."

At this, the Great hall erupted into loud cheers. Alexis found herself enveloped in hugs from the other Gryffindors. Kyra gave her a sisterly kiss on the cheek and a mixed congratulations and scolding. She was pleased with Alexis's courage, but not with the fact that she'd gotten herself into danger.

Alexis managed to disentangle herself from the hugs. Sstill cheering, she nudged Sophie in the ribs and pointed at Malfoy, who couldn't have looked more stunned and horrified if he'd just had the Body-Bind curse put on him.

"Which means," Dumbledore called over the storm of applause, for even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin, "we need a little change of decoration."

He clapped his hands. In an instant, the green hangings became scarlet and the silver became gold; the huge Slytherin serpent vanished and a towering Gryffindor lion took its place. Snape was shaking Professor McGonagall's hand, with a horrible forced smile.

He caught Alexis's eye and gave her a nod, an unreadable expression on his face. Alexis decided not to ponder over it. It seemed as though life would be back to normal next year, or as normal as it ever was at Hogwarts.

It was the best evening of Alexis's life, better than winning at Quidditch or Christmas or knocking out mountain trolls ... she would never, ever forget tonight.

Alexis had almost forgotten that the exam results were still to come, but come they did. Hermione and Sophie, not to Alexis's surprise, were tied for top of the year. Hermione had done slightly better in Transfiguration, but Sophie equaled things out by doing slightly better in Charms Alexis was slightly surprised to find that she had placed second. Eric had placed third with two others. He didn't mind being tied with Ravenclaw Padam Patil, but definitely did not like being tied with Draco Malfoy. Ravenclaw Anthony Goldstein placed fourth, and Ron (to his utter surprise), was in fifth place. Neville wasn't on the top five list, but he had made the top ten list. He placed ninth, his excellent Herbology grade (the one class where he beat all his friends) making up for his rather poor Potions mark.

They had hoped that Goyle, who was almost as stupid as he was mean, might be thrown out, but he had passed, too. It was a shame, but as Ron said, you couldn't have everything in life.

And suddenly, their wardrobes were empty, their trunks were packed, Neville's toad was found lurking in a corner of the toilets; notes were handed out to all students, warning them not to use magic over the holidays (I always hope they'll forget to give us these," said Fred Weasley sadly); Hagrid was there to take them down to the fleet of boats that sailed across the lake; they were boarding the Hogwarts Express; talking and laughing as the country-side became greener and tidier; eating Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans as they sped past Muggle towns; pulling off their wizard robes and putting on jackets and coats; pulling into platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross Station.

It took a while for them all to get off the platform. A wizened old guard was up by the ticket barrier, letting them go through the gate in twos and threes so they didn't attract attention by all bursting out of a solid wall at once and alarming the Muggles.

"You guys must come and stay this summer," said Ron, "I'll send you an owl."

"Thanks," said Alexis. "I'll need something to look forward to."

"Oh, and you're all invited to my birthday party," said Sophie. "My birthday's July 16th. And I'll see if I can't talk my grandmother in letting you guys stay for a couple of weeks. Since I did so well on the exams, she'll probably allow it."

People jostled them as they moved forwards towards the gateway back to the Muggle world. Some of them called: "Bye, Alexis!"  
"See you, Potter!"

"Still famous," said Ron grinning at her

"Not where I'm going, I promise you," said Alexis.

Out in the Muggle part of the station, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley were waiting. Ginny greeted Alexis excitedly, and said that Alexis must come over soon so she could explain fully what had happened with the Philosopher's Stone. Alexis had written about it in her last letter, but Ginny wanted evry little detail, not just a summary.

Mrs. Weasley smiled down at them when Ginny was done talking.

"Busy year?" she asked.

"Very," replied Alexis. "Thanks for the fudge and the jumper, Mrs. Weasley."

"Oh, it was nothing, dear."

Mrs. Channing came over then. "Alexis, you're going to be spending the night with me. I informed your aunt and uncle that I was picking you up and would bring you over tomorrow. With the combination of a letter your headmaster sent, my warning, and a threat from Matt to turn them all into flies if they harmed you, they should leave you alone and not bother you. And you will tell me the full details of what Kyra and Emma gave vague details about in their last letter tonight."

Alexis quickly introduced her friends to Mrs. Channing, who smiled pleasantly and greeted them. Then Alexis bid her friends good-by and followed Mrs. Channing, Kyra, and Emma out of the station. It looked as if she would have a comparitively pleasant summer.

Author's Note: Well, this is the end of this fic. I would like to thank all those who read and/or reviewed this. I will have a sequel, _Alexis Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,_ up sometime in the next week or two. My sister, Amy, may colloborate with me on it. However, it will still be under my penname, because she can't get an account here until next year, when she turns 13 on November 18th. I hope you have enjoyed this fic and will plan to read the sequal once it's posted. And Happy Thanksgiving to those in the U.S.


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